LinkedIn: More revenue, fewer jobs

Microsoft subsidiary LinkedIn is planning a reorganization. Around five percent of employees will lose their jobs, Reuters reports, citing two unnamed insiders. According to the report, LinkedIn currently has around 17,500 employees, so approximately 875 people are likely to become unemployed.

The reason is not the replacement of people by artificial intelligence but a conventional reorganization. As Reuters learned, management wants to focus on areas where LinkedIn is already growing. And the marketing platform is growing reliably.

In the first three months of the calendar year, LinkedIn generated twelve percent more revenue than in the same quarter of the previous year. Microsoft announced this at the end of April as part of its quarterly earnings release. It was the third quarter of Microsoft's fiscal year 2026. In the second fiscal quarter, LinkedIn increased revenue by eleven percent and by ten percent in the first.

LinkedIn's revenue has been increasing year after year for a decade, and at an accelerating rate. LinkedIn's revenue growth has been stronger for five consecutive quarters than in the preceding quarter. Revenue streams include software for HR departments that need to fill positions, advertising, software and data access for sales support, paid online courses, and premium subscriptions.

Paywall for Data

The latter are at the center of a current data protection complaint by an Austrian user against LinkedIn. The platform tracks and stores who accesses which user profiles and uses this for advertising purposes. The Austrian wanted to find out from LinkedIn through a GDPR request who had accessed his profile data. But he hit a wall: “We respect the privacy of members who don't wish to reveal information about themselves when viewing profiles,” the company writes.

But as soon as a user pays money, the data protection concerns no longer apply: Premium subscribers can see who has viewed their profile. The LinkedIn user does not want to accept this; with the support of the data protection organization Noyb (None of your business), he has filed a complaint with the country's data protection authority. LinkedIn maintains that it complies with the applicable regulations.

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