LinkedIn, the world's largest professional social media platform, has announced that it will cut 716 jobs and shut down its jobs app in mainland China. The decision was made due to changes in customer behavior and slower revenue growth, according to CEO Ryan Roslansky in a letter to employees. The move follows a trend of job cuts in the US tech industry, with Meta announcing 10,000 layoffs in March and Amazon eliminating 9,000 positions during the same month.
The challenging macroeconomic climate and fierce competition were cited as reasons for the shutdown of the InCareer app in mainland China. LinkedIn will continue to provide services to companies operating in China to hire and train employees outside the country, according to a company spokesperson. The social media platform is the last major Western app still operating in China, as Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube were banned over a decade ago, and Google left in 2010.
LinkedIn first entered China in 2014 by launching a localized version of its main app. However, its moves to censor posts in accordance with Chinese laws drew criticism. In March 2021, LinkedIn suspended signups in China to ensure compliance with local law. It replaced the app with InCareer, which focused solely on job postings, with no social networking features.
By 2021, LinkedIn had more than 50 million members in China, making it the company's third biggest market after the United States and India. However, it lagged behind local competitors such as Maimai, which launched in 2013 and became the most popular professional networking platform in China, with 110 million verified members. Maimai's success was partly due to its anonymous chat forum feature, which allowed users to post anonymously.
The operating environment in China has become more challenging since Xi Jinping took power in 2012. Tighter control over online speech and a series of crackdowns on the internet have made it difficult for Western companies to operate in the country. In an October 2021 blog post, LinkedIn acknowledged that it had found success in helping Chinese members find jobs and economic opportunities but had not found the same level of success in the social aspects of sharing and staying informed.