Professional social networking company LinkedIn, which is owned by Microsoft, announced on Monday that it will cut 716 jobs, citing a drop in demand, as well as shutting down its dedicated website for professionals in China.

LinkedIn, which has about 20,000 employees, posted revenue growth in every quarter last year, but it is following in the footsteps of several other big names in technology and digital services, including its parent company, in announcing layoffs amid a worsening outlook. global economy.

Over the past six months, more than 270,000 tech jobs have been cut globally, according to the specialist website Layoffs.fyi.

LinkedIn secures advertising revenue as well as subscription fees to enable recruiting processes, attracting talent from companies.

In a letter to employees, the company’s CEO Ryan Roslansky said the decision to eliminate positions in the sales, operations and support departments is intended to streamline the production machinery and eliminate intermediate stages in decision-making.

According to him, the changes at the company, including the use of outside suppliers, will eventually create 250 jobs, which could be taken over by some of the workers whose positions are being eliminated.

Also, LinkedIn announced that it will phase out its China app, InCareers, with the shutdown ending on August 9, citing “fierce competition” and the “macroeconomic climate.”

Most of the layoffs have come from big tech companies, including 27,000 at Amazon – the most since its founding – 21,000 at Meta (Facebook, Instagram), 12,000 at Alphabet (Google, YouTube) and 10,000 at Microsoft, parent of LinkedIn .

Even before LinkedIn’s announcement, 5,000 tech jobs were cut in May, according to Layoffs.fyi.

LinkedIn, which was founded in 2003, was acquired by Microsoft in 2016 for approximately $26 billion.