LinkedIn to Close Israel Development Center, Dozens of Employees to Be Laid Off
LinkedIn is shutting down its R&D center in Israel, resulting in the layoff of approximately 50 employees. The facility, established following the acquisition of Oribi, will cease most of its operations.
LinkedIn is closing its development center in Israel and laying off all employees. After the layoffs, a few staff members will remain at the center to handle ongoing business operations. It is estimated that the center currently employs about 50 people.
The LinkedIn research and development center in Israel was established in February 2022 following the company's first acquisition in the country — the analytics firm Oribi, founded by entrepreneur Iris Shoor, for an amount estimated at 80–90 million dollars. The deal and the establishment of the center were led by Tomer Cohen, Chief Product Officer of global LinkedIn. Although LinkedIn is owned by Microsoft, the Israeli center was established as an independent entity, completely separate from the parent company's development operations.
The center's activities, located in Tel Aviv, were focused on technology, engineering, and product development. Following the acquisition, Oribi's technology, which specializes in user behavior analysis and No-Code Analytics, was integrated into the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions arm. The Israeli team was responsible for developing measurement tools, attribution, and advanced analytics that allow advertisers and businesses on the platform to measure and evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of advertising campaigns.
In response to a request from Calcalist, the company stated:
"We are making these proposed organizational changes to some roles to best position ourselves for future success, by focusing our teams and our business on the highest-impact priorities for our members and customers."
