Linktree slashes Aussie and NZ workforce by 27 percent

Australian-based Linktree will slash its team by 27 percent which will mainly comprise Australian and New Zealand employees as it continues to focus on the market opportunity in the US.

Linktree will move certain roles from Australia to the US across its product, engineering, marketing and design teams.

In a letter to employees, Linktree CEO and co-founder Alex Zaccaria called the decision “hard but essential” as he “better positions the company to continue to grow, focus and achieve its ultimate potential".

Zaccaria said, “As a business born and bred in Australia, it is difficult for us to have to make these changes.

"We are so grateful for our Linkies based here at home and around the world that have helped us build this together – those connections and relationships are what makes this such a hard decision.”

Zaccaria said Linktree will be hiring product, engineering and marketing roles with specific US market experience and are committed to an evenly distributed team between Australia and the US by the end of the year.

For those impacted, Linktree said it will be offering outplacement support and consultation services, as well as generous financial support beyond legal requirements.

Digital Nation has reached out to Linktree for further comment.

New acquisition

In the same announcement, the company has also acquired Bento, a link platform and competitor for Linktree.

Zaccaria said, “We’ve seen a lot of competitors come and go as the category we created, and continue to lead, exploded.

“We look at numerous opportunities and rarely do we find a company and competitor that aligns with our strategy, cares for Linkers, and accelerates our growth and vision of empowering anyone to curate and grow their digital universe.”

Zaccaria said its visuals, community-centric product and shared passion in the space were some of the main reasons Linktree has bought Bento.

Bento will be officially part of Linktree on June 19.

In March this year, Linktree raised US$110m in funding led by Index Ventures and Coatue, hitting a US$1.3 billion valuation.

The company also hired three US-based executives earlier this year, Farnaz Azmoodeh as chief technology officer, Sam Rogoway as chief product officer (CPO) and Monica Austin as chief marketing officer (CMO).