LinkedIn is making significant changes to its early-career programs, particularly the associate product manager initiative. The company announced the discontinuation of this program in favor of a new approach aimed at enhancing employee skills in product development.
Transition to Associate Product Builder Program
Starting January, new hires will enroll in the associate product builder program. Tomer Cohen, LinkedIn’s chief product officer, outlined this shift during an episode of “Lenny’s Podcast.” The new program aims to equip participants with the capabilities to code, design, and manage products from inception to launch.
The Full-Stack Builder Model
This change embodies LinkedIn’s full-stack builder model. Under this framework, the company emphasizes the importance of versatile employees who can handle multiple facets of product development. Cohen stated that the goal is to cultivate a workforce that can seamlessly integrate skills traditionally associated with separate roles—such as product management, design, and engineering.
- Key Skills: Trainees will learn vision, empathy, communication, and decision-making.
- Team Structure: LinkedIn is moving towards smaller, cross-trained teams known as “pods.”
- Adaptability: This model enhances the company’s responsiveness to change.
Feedback on Product Management Roles
The role of product managers in tech has been a topic of debate recently. While some companies, including Microsoft, aim to reduce their ratio of product managers to engineers, others, like Google, argue these roles are critical, especially in rapidly evolving sectors like AI.
Discussions on media platforms highlight varied perspectives on the necessity and value of product managers. For instance, Edwin Chen, CEO of Surge AI, believes early-stage teams can thrive without product managers. He advocates for engineers to take the lead in product direction until they reach their limits.
Conversely, Andrew Ng, a founder at Google Brain, argues that product management is becoming increasingly vital, especially as technological advancements necessitate quicker decision-making in product development.
Overall, LinkedIn’s elimination of the associate product manager program reflects broader industry trends. By adopting the associate product builder program, LinkedIn aims to create a more adaptive and skilled workforce capable of navigating the complexities of modern product management.
