Business-focused social media network LinkedIn has announced that it will cut 716 jobs and phase out its local jobs app in China, as part of an effort to streamline its operations. The move follows similar cost-cutting measures announced by other tech firms such as Amazon, Google's parent company Alphabet and Microsoft, which owns LinkedIn.
The company's CEO Ryan Roslansky said the decision was aimed at serving emerging and growth markets more effectively, as well as accommodating fluctuations in market and customer demand, a BBC report stated.
Streamlining operations and creating new jobs
The job cuts are expected to affect employees in LinkedIn's sales, operations and support teams. However, Roslansky also announced that the company would create 250 new jobs, and that those affected by the cuts would be eligible to apply. The company plans to expand its use of vendors in order to better serve emerging markets, and to accommodate fluctuations in customer demand.
Phasing out LinkedIn's local jobs app in China
LinkedIn's remaining app in China, InCareers, will be phased out by 9 August. The company had mostly withdrawn from the Chinese market in 2021, citing a "challenging environment". However, a LinkedIn spokesperson confirmed that the company would still maintain a presence in China, in order to assist companies in the country with hiring and training employees outside of China.
Adherence to Chinese government requirements
When LinkedIn launched in China in 2014, the company agreed to comply with the Chinese government's requirements in order to operate in the country. At the time, US senator Rick Scott criticised the move, calling it a "gross appeasement and an act of submission to Communist China" in a letter to LinkedIn's CEO and Microsoft's boss Satya Nadella. LinkedIn had been the only major Western social media platform operating in China.
LinkedIn's decision to cut jobs and phase out its local jobs app in China reflects the challenges that tech companies face in navigating China's regulatory environment. However, the company's decision to maintain a presence in China to assist with hiring and training suggests that it still sees potential in the country's business landscape.
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