Facebook Parent Meta Sacks 11,000 Employees Across Board After Disappointing Results

According to Wall Street Journal, in his latest meeting with senior executives, Zuckerberg is said to have confirmed "broad cuts" across the company, starting from Wednesday

Meta, the parent firm of Facebook, said that the company is laying off more than 11,000 employees, which is 13 per cent of its total workforce, after a steep slide in digital ad revenue and profit. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said this on Wednesday.

According to Wall Street Journal, in his latest meeting with senior executives, Zuckerberg is said to have confirmed "broad cuts" across the company, starting from Wednesday. Employees who lose their jobs would be provided at least four months of salary as a severance, according to the report.

"The most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history," said Zuckerberg, while adding, "I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted." 

The mass layoff is the first broad head-count reduction to occur in Meta's (earlier Facebook) 18-year history. The Facebook and Instagram parent company reported over 87,000 employees (as of September).

The company declined to comment, referring to Zuckerberg's recent statement that the company would "focus our investments on a small number of high priority growth areas".

Zuckerberg held himself accountable for the company’s decline owing to over-optimism about growth leading to overstaffing. While Meta’s head of human resources, Lori Goler, stressed that employees who lose their jobs will be offered at least four months of salary as severance.

Meta, the parent company of Facebook along with Instagram and WhatsApp, had more than 87,000 employees by September end. During the company's earnings call in October, Zuckerberg said: "In 2023, we're going to focus our investments on a small number of high priority growth areas."

"So that means some teams will grow meaningfully, but most other teams will stay flat or shrink over the next year. In aggregate, we expect to end 2023 as either roughly the same size, or even a slightly smaller organisation than we are today," he had mentioned.

With these job cuts, Meta will join a slew of other tech firms, such as Stripe, Amazon, Lyft, Coinbase, Apple, and Snap among others, that have announced layoffs and hiring freezes in the wake of surging inflation and macroeconomic headwinds.