LinkedIn is planning to cut about 5% of its workforce on Wednesday as it reorganizes teams and shifts focus toward areas where its business is growing, according to Reuters.
According to figures listed on LinkedIn's website, the platform's global full-time headcount exceeds 17,500, which would place the total number of jobs eliminated at approximately 875. The specific teams facing cuts were not identified.
One source told Reuters that AI automation was not behind the decision to reduce headcount.
Microsoft $MSFT, which owns LinkedIn, showed in its securities filings that LinkedIn posted a 12% year-over-year revenue increase in its latest quarter, marking a pickup in growth momentum in 2026. The company's business spans recruiting tools and premium subscriptions.
The cuts arrive as Microsoft has been reducing headcount across multiple parts of its business. The company laid off almost 7,000 employees — about 3% of its total workforce — in a round of cuts that fell mostly on product and engineering roles, with the company citing a desire to reduce management layers and adjust its structure. Microsoft also disclosed plans to cut thousands of sales employees.
More recently, Microsoft offered voluntary retirement buyouts to U.S. employees for the first time in its history, making about 7% of its domestic workforce eligible for the program. To qualify, employees had to hold a rank no higher than senior director, be outside the sales incentive plan structure, and have an age-plus-tenure figure of at least 70. The program was announced in a memo from Amy Coleman, Microsoft's EVP and chief people officer.