LinkedIn Lays Off Almost 1,000 Employees Amid COVID-19
Equating to 6 percent of its workforce.
LinkedIn has announced that 960 of its employees across the globe will unfortunately be laid off, largely due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic reducing the hiring demands. The number equates to 6 percent of the Microsoft-owned company’s total staff count. At the same time, LinkedIn will be combining two different media divisions, LinkedIn Marketing Solutions and Talent Solutions, in order to avoid “duplicating costly platforms, systems and tools internally.”
“[LinkedIn] is not immune to the effects of the global pandemic,” wrote CEO Ryan Roslansky in an email to employees. “COVID-19 is having a sustained impact on the demand for hiring, both in our [LinkedIn Talent Solutions] business and in our company.” He continued by saying “there are roles that are no longer needed as we adjust to the reduced demand in our internal hiring and for our talent products globally,” but reassured that these will be the only roles cut from the company.
Despite laying off these employees, LinkedIn still hopes to provide support for them in the immediate future through various ways. Aside from being able to keep their company-provided devices, the platform will provide no less than 10 weeks of severance pay as well as a six-month program to help them look for new opportunities. Those on company-sponsored visas will also get support, while those laid off in the U.S. will continue benefiting from health insurance for the next 12 months. Outside the U.S., health insurance will continue for another six months.
In other business-related news, Gap’s share price drops following Kanye West’s threat of leaving the partnership.
