Continuing the trend of layoffs in 2024, Microsoft-owned LinkedIn reportedly fired about 200 employees, almost 1% of its workforce, especially from its engineering and customer support departments. It is likely to invest more in artificial intelligence (AI) technologies.

The professional networking site had already closed its China app last year, citing a challenging macroeconomic condition as a reason for the bold decision. It also fired around 700 employees in 2023 from the engineering, talent and finance departments, to 'improve agility and accountability’ as said in an email sent to employees, claiming LinkedIn is taking big steps keeping long-term plans in mind.  

Focussing on integrating generative AI tech with its products  

Like other tech companies, LinkedIn is also focussing on integrating generative AI technologies into its products. This has redefined some job profiles while creating demand for new skill sets at the same time.

A month ago, LinkedIn launched a suite of AI-powered tools to help job seekers. However, these AI tools are only available for premium subscribers. The newly added features include personalised resumes, AI-assisted cover letters, and more conversational job searches.

The site introduced AI-generated messages in LinkedIn Recruiter, a feature that creates personalised InMail messages for candidates based on data they have in their profiles. This would expedite the interaction between recruiters and candidates. LinkedIn has utilised AI to assist in creating job descriptions. To improve individual user experience, LinkedIn has introduced an AI tool, offering personalised writing suggestions. 

Further, its ‘Collaborative Articles' demonstrate an application of AI in fostering knowledge sharing and professional development. Conceived by AI and LinkedIn's editorial team, these articles collate insights from the LinkedIn community, creating an interactive platform for learning.

The tech bloodbath is far from over 

The year 2023 was a terrible year for the tech industry, and 2024 is a little better, but the bloodbath is continuing with a total of 149,006 employees having been laid off in 2024 so far by 519 tech companies across the world, according to data from layoff-tracking website Layoffs.fyi. About 1,190 tech companies fired at least 264,220 employees last year. The list includes names of major IT companies like Google, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta, and Salesforce. 

Google: In May this year, tech giant Google laid off at least 200 employees from its core teams to cut costs. Alphabet had already trimmed its headcounts in 2023 by announcing layoffs in its Flutter, Dart and Python teams. 

Amazon: It had laid off more than 27,000 employees in 2022 and 2023 to focus on AI and automation. In October 2024, its CEO Andy Jassey announced that Amazon would end about 14,000 managerial positions to increase the ratio of individual contributors to managers.

eBay: In January this year, eBay laid off 1,000 employees, about 9% of its full-time workforce to reduce costs that were outpacing business growth. It also reduced the number of contracts with its alternate workforce to streamline teams. 

Meta: Facebook-parent Meta had laid off 11,000 employees in 2022, and another 10,000 in 2023. It had announced more job cuts in October 2024 from WhatsApp and Instagram teams; however, it hasn’t confirmed the exact number. 

Microsoft: In January this year, Microsoft laid off 1,900 employees from its gaming unit. In June, it fired over 1,000 employees across different business verticals, including Azure. It again announced another 650 layoffs in September, mostly at Activision Blizzard.

Intel: In August 2024, the chip maker announced to cut around 15,000 jobs, amounting to 15% of its workforce. The aim is to realign costs and revitalize its position against competitors like Nvidia and AMD.

Dropbox: The cloud storage service announced to slash 528 employees, or about 20% of its global workforce to make its business more efficient.

The tech companies have been announcing layoffs since 2022 due to economic challenges like rising interest rates and fear of recession. Many of these companies are now over staffed as they had hired more employees during the Covid-19 pandemic to meet the demand.     

Besides, advancement and upgradation in AI technologies is changing the face of IT functioning and operations across the world, implementing smarter, more efficient systems and solutions. The AI technology has enhanced predictive maintenance, improved overall performance and reduced the downtime. It would drive widespread transformations in the IT industry as it becomes more integrated into business functioning. AI would also boost productivity and assist human beings with better data analytics, and personalized suggestions.

AI advancement is likely to affect 40% of jobs globally and impact economies, according to a study done by California Miramar University. However, it would also create new jobs at the same time as it transforms and generates new industries. In advanced economies, most jobs may benefit from AI integration and productivity enhancement.