One of the largest US job cuts in 2022 will see Meta lay off more than 11,000 workers.
- A week after Twitter, Meta announced company-wide employment cutbacks.
- These are the company's first significant layoffs in its 18-year history
- The hiring moratorium will continue through the first quarter.
In response to disappointing earnings, rising costs, and a weak ad market, Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms Inc. announced on Wednesday that it will eliminate 13% of its workforce, or more than 11,000 employees. This is part of a plan to reduce costs at the social media platform. One of the biggest tech layoffs in 2022 is this one.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg made the following statement: 'I'm sorry to anyone who has been harmed; I realise this is tough for everyone. The decreases, which are part of the first significant budget cut since Facebook was founded in 2004, are brought on by a sharp decline in digital advertising revenue.
On Tuesday, Zuckerberg addressed the executives to help them get ready for the layoffs. Starting this morning, affected workers will be informed. The Wall Street Journal reported that during the executive call, Zuckerberg took ownership of the company's 'mistakes' and apologized.
The layoffs at Meta, which are the first in the 18-year history of the company, come on the heels of Twitter's last week, when that company lost almost 50% of its workers after Elon Musk took over Twitter.
During those layoffs, several employees discovered they were no longer working when their access to Slack or email was unexpectedly taken off. Musk claimed that the actions were required to halt the social network's losses. He afterwards extended an invitation to a few sacked employees to return.
Snap Inc., the parent firm of the rival app Snapchat, said in August that it would be laying off 20% of its workforce. Many areas of the company will be affected by the job layoffs, but Zuckerberg noted in the essay that Meta's recruiting team will be particularly severely hit because 'we're expecting to employ fewer people next year.' With limited exceptions, he continued, a hiring freeze would be maintained until the first quarter.
