Microsoft Corp.-owned LinkedIn today said that it is laying off about 960 employees, or approximately 6% of its global workforce, amid reduced demand for its recruiting solutions among business customers.

Microsoft acquired LinkedIn four years ago in a $26.2 billion deal that propelled it to a key position in the social media landscape. Since the acquisition, LinkedIn has grown from about 433 million users worldwide to 690 million as of Microsoft’s last fiscal quarter. The social network generates revenue by selling tools that enable companies to find job candidates, target potential customers and provide training resources for employees.

In the blog post announcing the job cuts, LinkedIn Chief Executive Officer Ryan Roslansky wrote the move is connected to “reduced demand in our internal hiring and for our talent products globally.” The approximately 960 layoffs will mainly affect the Talent Acquisition business in charge of LinkedIn’s talent products and its global sales organizations.

The restructuring at the global sales unit is partially the result of a change in strategy. LinkedIn is refocusing from a field sales model to engaging potential customers online, a shift that Roslansky explained aims to help the Microsoft subsidiary more effectively target small business customers. Additionally, another set of jobs is being cut because the social network is merging two previously separate employee training-focused units into a single group. 

“While this decision will help us ensure that our company and platform are resilient and emerge stronger to reach our vision, there is simply no harder decision to make as a CEO,” Roslansky wrote.

LinkedIn has pledged to provide at least 10 weeks of severance pay and, for affected employees in the U.S., also cover 12 months of continuing health insurance. Roslansky added in the blog post that the cuts announced today are the “only layoffs we are planning.”

Last month, LinkedIn parent Microsoft announced plans to close most of its 80-plus physical stores as part of an effort to shift towards selling its consumer devices online. The company has reassigned its roughly 2,000 retail staffers to remote projects such as training enterprise users in using Office 365.

Photo: LinkedIn