LinkedIn is laying off approximately 5% of its global workforce affecting around 875 employees the company announced May 13. The Microsoft-owned professional networking platform employs more than 17,500 people globally according to its website. However, the cuts come despite LinkedIn revenue growing 12% year-over-year in the most recent quarter.
CEO Daniel Shapero disclosed the cuts in an internal memo obtained by Business Insider and Bloomberg. LinkedIn is scaling back investments in marketing campaigns, vendor spend, customer events, and underutilized office space. Consequently, the company can focus teams on priorities with the broadest impact and highest return on investment.
Sources told Reuters the layoffs are not explicitly about artificial intelligence replacing human workers. The cuts instead reflect an internal reorganization as LinkedIn shifts staff into business areas showing stronger growth. Furthermore, the layoffs affect workers across Global Business Organization including engineering, product, and marketing teams.
The disconnect between rising revenue and shrinking headcount has become a defining feature of the AI era. Companies are trimming management layers, consolidating teams, and redirecting spending into AI infrastructure and automation projects. Meanwhile, LinkedIn‘s decision follows a broader trend across Silicon Valley with tech companies continuing widespread cost-cutting measures.
Meta announced plans to lay off about 8,000 employees starting May 20 representing roughly 10% of its workforce. Jack Dorsey’s Block announced plans to eliminate half of its workforce in February while Cloudflare shared 20% cuts. So far in 2026, more than 103,000 tech layoffs have been recorded approaching the 124,000 counted for all of 2025.
