The software platform famous for pioneering the ‘link in bio’ feature on Instagram has announced more layoffs.
In a note to all Linktree employees, co-founder and chief executive officer Alex Zaccaria has revealed the company will lay off 27 per cent of its staff – primarily in Australia and New Zealand. The move follows a round of layoffs in August 2022, when around 17 per cent of staff were sacked.
In the note, Zaccaria says the layoffs in ANZ will mean the business can pursue growth opportunities in the United States, which he says is now the company’s largest market with the largest potential.
“We have built this momentum to date with very few Linkies based in the US,” Zaccaria says. “We need to focus on our growth in the US and hire people with deep experience building products for this specific audience.”
While the local team will be leaner, Linktree says it intends to hire product, engineering and marketing roles with specific US market experience. By the end of the year, Zaccaria hopes there will be just as many staff members in the US as there are in Australia.
“This was not a decision taken lightly, but one that was necessary for the future success of Linktree,” Zaccaria says. On LinkedIn, the co-founder added that Zaccaria’s focus for the week is to support impacted staff and the remaining team.
In the note, Zaccaria also pointed to a new, strategic acquisition of link platform, Bento. Originally a competitor to Linktree, now Bento will now come under the company’s wing from June 19.
Layoffs in the tech industry have been rampant in 2023, with global companies like Meta, Salesforce, Microsoft and Google setting the trend and Australian companies, like Atlassian, following suit.
Despite this, new research from the Tech Council of Australia shows that for every job lost over the past quarter in Australia, 20 more have been created. And after an 8 per cent increase in tech jobs last year, the Tech Council of Australia says the country is on track to meet the Government’s goal.
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