'Open to work': How Microsoft’s LinkedIn has become the preferred job-hunting portal for laid off techies

Microsoft-owned LinkedIn has become a go-to platform globally for those who have been lately sacked by big conglomerates such as Amazon, Facebook’s Meta, Twitter, and Uber among others, with some affected users forming groups to provide assistance to others, as per an IANS report.

"One LinkedIn group of employees affected by the November layoffs at Facebook-parent Meta, for example, now has more than 200 members," the news agency said in a report quoting CNN.

"A group of Twitter employees created a spreadsheet of laid-off workers from the company alongside recruiters hiring for other firms, and used LinkedIn to help facilitate sign-ups," said the report.

Even employers have turned to LinkedIn, to explain their decisions, and even seek advice.

Globally, the mobile application of LinkedIn was downloaded an estimated 58.4 million times in 2022 across Google Play Store and Apple App Stores -- up 10 per cent from 2021, as per market research firm Sensor Tower.

CNN’s report stated that "open to work" posts on LinkedIn were up 22 per cent in November against the same period in 2021. 

This has also resulted in hefty profits for LinkedIn. The Microsoft-owned platform posted 17 per cent year-over-year revenue growth in the September quarter. 

Corroborating this, Microsoft's Chairman and CEO Satya Nadella said in the earnings call that LinkedIn was witnessing a "record engagement" among its 875 million members.

Amid global macroeconomic conditions and recession fears, thousands of techies continue to lose jobs at big tech companies. And most of this laid off workforce is finding it difficult to get hired as there is a freeze on new hirings at nearly every top firm, the IANS report also pointed out.

Meanwhile, Fortune on Sunday reported that global financial services company Goldman Sachs is set to lay off about 4,000 employees starting this week.