LinkedIn will close in China due to "fierce competition and difficult macroeconomic climate". The company, owned by Microsoft, was one of the few U.S. tech companies to run a social media company in a country where the internet is heavily censored. It introduced a home version of the platform, managed locally, to comply with the rules: it is called InCareer and will close on August 9th. The withdrawal from China entails, said CEO Ryan Roslansky, "a reduction in roles for 716 employees".
The change announced by Roslansky in a letter is aimed at responding to global economic conditions and making business more agile. "With the market and customer demand fluctuating and to serve emerging markets more effectively, we are expanding the use of suppliers - said the CEO of LinkedIn - And we are also reducing management roles to make decisions more quickly".
LinkedIn has achieved rapid growth in the country by benefiting from a culture of connections where your contacts and professional network are essential assets. However, it has been marginalized in recent years as local apps have increased in popularity.
Tech companies operating in China are under pressure to block unwanted content and topics considered politically sensitive in the name of social stability. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube are blocked because they do not comply with the country's strict and often obscure regulations. Google left China in 2010. In the first six months of 2023 – according to Layoffs.fyi – more than 270,000 jobs were cut in the technology sector worldwide.
