Meta Plans To Lay Off Thousands Of Employees This Week To Meet Financial Targets: Report

Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta, the world’s largest social networking firm, is eliminating more jobs, on top of a 13 per cent reduction in November, in a bid to become a more efficient organisation

Owner of Facebook and Instagram, Meta Platforms Inc, is planning another round of fresh layoffs, citing a people familiar with the development told news agency Bloomberg. The sources told the agency that Meta is likely to slash thousands of employees as soon as this week.

Meta, the world’s largest social networking firm, is eliminating more jobs, on top of a 13 per cent reduction in November, in a bid to become a more efficient organisation. In its earlier round of cuts, Meta slashed 11,000 workers in what was its first-ever major layoff.

According to the report, the social media giant has also been working to flatten its organisation, giving buyout packages to managers and cutting whole teams it deems nonessential, Bloomberg reported in February, a move that is still being finalised and could affect thousands of employees.

The sources privy to the matter said the imminent round of cuts is being driven by financial targets and is separate from the “flattening”.

Meta, which has seen a slowdown in advertising revenue and has shifted focus to a virtual-reality platform called the metaverse, has been asking directors and vice-presidents to make lists of employees that can be let go, the sources said, while adding, this phase of layoffs could be finalised in the next week.

A Meta spokesperson declined to Bloomberg’s request for comments on the layoff plans. Those working on the plan are hoping to have it ready before Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg goes on parental leave for his third child, which may be imminent, according to one of the sources.

The November cuts were a surprise, but another round of firings has been widely anticipated by the Meta workforce. Zuckerberg has dubbed 2023 Meta’s “year of efficiency,” and the company has been communicating that theme to employees during performance reviews, which were completed last week.

Employees at the Menlo Park, California-based firm described heightened anxiety and low morale among colleagues lately. Some employees expressed worry about whether they’d receive their bonuses, which are set to be distributed this month, if they lose their jobs beforehand, the sources added.