LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky has written a message to employees, laying out a new strategy regarding China, its global presence, and a round of layoffs.
According to Roslansky, LinkedIn is shuttering its InCareer China app and will instead focus on helping companies in China recruit globally.
We’ll focus our China strategy on assisting companies operating in China to hire, market, and train abroad. This will involve maintaining our Talent, Marketing, and Learning businesses, while phasing out InCareer, our local jobs app in China, by August 9, 2023. Though InCareer experienced some success in the past year thanks to our strong China-based team, it also encountered fierce competition and a challenging macroeconomic climate. Mohak and Jian will convene an all hands meeting with our China-based colleagues in the coming hours to discuss the implications of these changes, including the discontinuation of product and engineering teams in China and the downsizing of corporate, sales, and marketing functions.
Roslansky says the company will also reorganize its Global Business Organization for improved agility and growth in FY24. As part of the reorganization and shutdown of its China app, LinkedIn will be laying off 716 of its staff.
While these decisions are essential for our business, they also mean that some of our teammates will be leaving LinkedIn for new opportunities. We are committed to providing our full support to those impacted. U.S. benefit-eligible employees will receive a variety of benefits including severance pay, continuing health coverage, and career transition services. Benefits for employees outside the U.S. will align with the employment laws and local practices in each country. For both our GBO and China employees, we have an internal mobility process for impacted team members to help find a new role if there’s a skill fit.
LinkedIn’s parent Microsoft has had a troubled relationship with China, as have many companies. In fact, the company had already shuttered in the main LinkedIn app in China in 2021. As a result, it’s not at all surprising LinkedIn is shutting down the final part of its China app presence.
