LinkedIn cuts 281 jobs as part of Microsoft’s wider layoff plan, engineers most affected

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The latest wave of tech layoffs has hit LinkedIn, the platform known for helping people find jobs. Ironically, LinkedIn itself is now laying off 281 employees in California, as confirmed in a recent filing with the state’s Employment Development Department.

The layoffs follow Microsoft’s global decision earlier this month to cut around 6,000 jobs, affecting about 3% of its workforce. Since LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, it too has been caught up in the company’s broader cost-cutting plans.

Those impacted include a large number of software engineers, along with senior product managers and talent account directors. Many of them have already updated their profiles on LinkedIn to say they are “open to work”—a quiet but powerful reflection of the platform's own situation.

What’s different this time is the lack of any official message from LinkedIn’s top leadership. In 2023, when the company let go of over 700 employees, CEO Ryan Roslansky shared a personal note. But this time, there’s been silence, raising questions about whether more layoffs could be coming.

With AI now able to write code and suggest product ideas, some companies are rethinking how many human workers they really need.

LinkedIn isn’t alone. Other tech giants like Google, Meta, and Autodesk have also been reducing staff this year. While some say it’s about shifting business goals or underperformance, a major driver seems to be the growing use of AI and the push to become more efficient.

For now, hundreds of LinkedIn employees find themselves on the job hunt—on the very platform they helped build.