Microsoft-owned professional networking platform LinkedIn will cut approximately 875 roles – about 5 per cent of its global workforce – but says AI is not to blame.
The cuts, announced this morning, affect teams across the company including marketing, product, and engineering. LinkedIn chief marketing officer Jessica Jensen told staff in an internal memo that “growth is more competitive, infrastructure costs continue to rise and AI is reshaping how work gets done.” It’s unclear how many Australian employees will be affected and LinkedIn was contacted for further comment.
Despite widespread concerns about automation-driven job losses across the technology sector, one source familiar with the matter told Reuters the layoffs were not attributable to artificial intelligence replacing workers, and were instead about redirecting resources toward higher-growth areas of the business.
LinkedIn’s cuts are part of a broader wave of technology sector job losses in 2026, with layoff-tracking site Layoffs.fyi tallying more than 103,000 tech roles eliminated so far this year.
“This announcement is the starting gun on what will now be weeks of confusion and discombobulation for those whose roles have been impacted,” former Australian LinkedIn employee Natalie MacDonald, who was part of previous layoffs, told this masthead.
“I also think these repeated waves of layoffs across the tech sector – and I do anticipate more in the coming weeks – will force professionals to think about career resilience. That might mean staying in ‘safe’ roles, not pushing for promotion, delaying family planning, less employer loyalty and flow through impact for productivity and innovation. The government must consider the long-term impact for the Australian workforce and economy.”
