An internal memo shows LinkedIn's new marketing playbook: fewer staff, tighter budgets, and more AI
· Business Insider
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- LinkedIn's marketing team is embracing AI as it cuts staff, an internal memo shows.
- Marketing will also reduce its ad spending, according to an email from LinkedIn CMO Jessica Jensen.
- LinkedIn says it's positioning itself for future success as it implements "organizational changes."
The marketing team wasn't spared from LinkedIn's layoffs on Wednesday.
LinkedIn chief marketing and strategy officer Jessica Jensen sent an email saying the company is reducing roles "across our team" to cut costs.
"Growth is more competitive, infrastructure costs continue to rise and AI is reshaping how work gets done," read Jensen's email, which was viewed by Business Insider. "So we are at a point where our work is important and deeply valued, and we need to reduce costs in Marketing to ensure LinkedIn is positioned for the future we're building."
It's not clear exactly how many members of LinkedIn's marketing team got cut. A LinkedIn spokesperson declined to provide specific numbers, telling Business Insider that it is implementing "organizational changes" to best position itself for future success.
Jensen's memo says the marketing team is reducing its paid media spending. While Jensen didn't give specific examples, paid media typically means paying for Google Ads or other platforms for promotion.
LinkedIn plans to embrace unspecified "AI tools and workflows" to help staff get things done faster.
LinkedIn's product organizations have also been affected by the layoffs, as they made changes to their operations.
These cuts put LinkedIn squarely in line with the long list of tech companies that are pushing staff to use AI as they reduce head count. Cisco announced an AI-driven restructuring on Wednesday affecting about 4,000 roles. Companies like Coinbase and Block also cited increased productivity from AI as part of the rationale for their own layoffs earlier this year.
LinkedIn is investing in AI in other ways, too. It launched an "AI labor marketplace" where people can make money training AI chatbots to get better at everything from coding to nursing to finance, Business Insider previously reported.
Read the full memo Jensen sent out on Wednesday below:
Team, I want to start by saying that this team is doing extraordinary work. You're pushing our brand into new creative territory, delivering results that drive business growth, and being recognized for that in the industry — and it's making a real impact. Thank you. At the same time, we're operating in a moment that requires more focus and intentionality. Growth is more competitive, infrastructure costs continue to rise and AI is reshaping how work gets done. So we are at a point where our work is important and deeply valued, and we need to reduce costs in Marketing to ensure LinkedIn is positioned for the future we're building.With this in mind, we're making some organizational changes, including reducing roles across our team. If your role is part of the reductions, or proposed reductions in EMEA and APAC, you will receive a calendar invite in the next hour titled 'Attendance Required: Marketing Organizational Updates.' If you do not receive this exact invite your role is not part of the reductions or proposed reductions.To give you more context, our organizational changes are across three areas:First, sharpening our financial focus. In addition to the difficult role reductions we're announcing today, we're also reducing our paid media and program spend, while continuing to invest where we see the highest ROI. This is about being more intentional with our resources, and creating space to fund the work that moves the business the most.Second, focusing our investments on where we can grow and drive high ROI in FY27. That includes accelerating LMS growth, advancing our agentic hiring solutions, and building on strong momentum with Premium and Small Business offerings. We'll prioritize the consumer experiences that most directly drive engagement and revenue, concentrate our marketing investments in the US and UK, and maintain our market leadership in LSS as we continue to strengthen the product.Third, setting teams up for success. We're continuing to bring teams together that do similar work in our Creative CoE, our Scaled Solutions org, and Small Business Marketing. We'll also embrace new AI-enabled tools and workflows that allow our human creativity and judgment to go further, faster.To those leaving LinkedIn, thank you for the care, creativity and commitment you brought to our culture and brand. You've made a lasting impact, and we're deeply grateful. For those staying, please join me in supporting our departing colleagues as they navigate what's next. We'll come together tomorrow for an all Marketing team meeting where I'll provide more clarity and you'll have a chance to ask questions. You can learn more about the changes within each team on the Marketing Hub which will include links to updates that GBO, Product, and Engineering are sharing today as well. Your leaders will provide more context on what's happening on your team in meetings later this week.While I know that this level of change can bring a sense of uncertainty, it can also clarify our purpose. The world needs LinkedIn now more than ever, and while these are hard choices to make, they focus our work for our short and long-term impact. Please take the time you need to process this news and give one another space at this moment. Thank you for everything you do for LinkedIn and for one another.Jessica
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