What is Corporate Speak?

“Corporate speak” refers to the jargon, buzzwords, and formal language often used in the business world. It’s a way of communicating that can sound very professional, but sometimes it can be hard to understand, especially for people who aren’t familiar with the specific terms or the business context.

There are a few main reasons why corporate speak is so prevalent:

• Professionalism – Businesses want to project an image of intelligence and competence. Corporate speak is seen as more formal and professional than plain, straightforward language.
• Obfuscation – Corporate speak often uses complicated, vague, or abstract phrases that can make simple ideas sound complex. This can be used to intentionally obscure the meaning or details of a message.
• Conformity – There is pressure to use the accepted buzzwords and phrases that are common in a given industry or role. Corporate speak serves as a type of shorthand to signal you belong.
• Masking Bad News – Sometimes, corporate speak can be used to soften or obscure bad news. For example, saying “we’re undergoing a strategic workforce reduction” instead of “we’re laying off employees.”
• Risk aversion – Companies want to avoid legal issues or misinterpretation of communications. Vague corporate jargon can provide plausible deniability or wiggle room if communications are questioned later.
• Buzz and hype – New trends and concepts in business are often wrapped in flashy new terminology. Corporate speak can make something seem cutting-edge and exciting.

Read the email LinkedIn sent employees announcing more than 600 layoffs across its engineering and product teams

Team,

We did not expect to share this important update with you all in the midst of such challenging times but in the spirit of clarity, Tomer and I wanted to share some news regarding changes we are making to our orgs. As we continue to execute on our FY24 plan, we need to also evolve how we work and what we prioritize so we can deliver on the key initiatives we’ve identified that will have an outsized impact in achieving our business goals.

This means adapting our organizational structures to improve agility and accountability, establishing unambiguous ownership, and driving improving efficiency & transparency through reduced layering.
These decisions result in the reduction of 563 roles across R&D. Broken down, there are 137 Engineering management roles and 38 Product roles being reduced. Additionally, there will be 368 role reductions across our Engineering team in an effort to better align resources to our FY24 plan, and we will open a small number of new roles to fill critical gaps in our ambitious roadmap.

For those who are directly affected by these changes, you will receive a calendar invitation within the next hour, titled “Required Attendance: R&D Role Reductions”. This meeting will provide you with detailed information on how we we will support you through this transition.If you do not receive this invitation, expected communication from your Product or Engineering Executive leader soon with specifics pertaining to your organization and how we will collectively navigate through these changes.

Tomer and I made these decisions with deep consideration towards the long-term needs of our business and with the acknowledgement that every affected individual has played a valuable role in the growth and success of LinkedIn. In the coming days, our focus will be on supporting each other and discussing the ways we will move forward, with our vision, mission and values as our guides. Today, it is imperative that we support our colleagues navigating this transition. Let’s continue to embrace empathy and understanding through these difficult times and use these as a cornerstone for the support we provide each other.

Translated:

“Hey everyone, Tomer and I have some big news to share. Even though things are tough right now, we think it’s important to tell you. We’re making some changes to our teams to help our company do better in the future. This means we’re changing how our teams are set up and what jobs they do. Because of these changes, some people won’t have their jobs anymore. This includes 563 people who work on creating and improving our products. Some of them are managers, some work on the products, and some are engineers. But we’ll also have a few new jobs that we need to fill.

If you’re one of the people affected by these changes, you’ll get an invite to a meeting soon where we’ll explain everything and help you through it. If you don’t get this invite, you’ll hear from your team leader about what’s happening.

We know this is hard, and we didn’t make this decision lightly. Everyone who is affected has helped our company grow and be successful. In the next few days, we’ll talk about how we can support each other and move forward. Today, let’s be kind and understanding to those who are going through this change. Let’s be there for each other.”