Dive Brief:

• LinkedIn will eliminate approximately 960 roles, "or about 6 percent of our employee base, across our Global Sales and Talent Acquisition organizations," the company's CEO said in a July 20 blog post.
• Ryan Roslansky said that while the company has added product offerings, it has not been immune to the effects of the pandemic. "Our Talent Solutions business continues to be impacted as fewer companies, including ours, need to hire at the same volume they did previously."
• While Roslansky did not say how many individuals were laid off compared to the number of vacant positions eliminated, he said the company is providing those affected with at least 10 weeks' severance pay, 12 months' health insurance for U.S. workers, career transition services and legal services for those on company-sponsored visas.

Dive Insight:

Despite increased demand for LinkedIn's learning content, employer hiring freezes and predicted reduced attrition appear to have hit the company hard. That may be no surprise given how many employers and workers reported such plans: Hiring freezes were the most common employer cost control measure taken in response to the novel coronavirus pandemic, at least in its early days, March 30 survey results from Willis Tower Watson revealed. At the same time, in a survey of employed U.S. adults conducted for outsourcing firm Yoh, 78% of respondents said they would not consider a job change during the outbreak.

Still, many have undertaken layoffs. During such moves, experts say talent professionals can take certain steps to preserve a company's image and culture. The way in which employers navigate these situations will have lasting implications for years, Brian Kropp, chief of research for Gartner's HR practice, previously told HR Dive.

Among other things, experts say decisions about cuts should be made with fairness in mind -- something Roslansky noted in his announcement. "Any sense of unfairness from a workforce reduction decision will be viewed negatively by the remaining employees," Kropp explained. Outplacement services and similar offerings, too, can demonstrate empathy and compassion, which Roslansky also noted that LinkedIn aimed to exhibit.

Notably, recent LinkedIn research also pointed to empathy as a crucial branding component. Employer messaging has moved in that direction in recent months, with some success. Regardless of topic, "messages that put people first perform best," the April report said.