Meta to lay off employees this week to save from losses

Facebook parent Meta is reportedly planning to lay off thousands of employees this week. According to The Washington Post, Meta’s job cuts would be relatively smaller in percentage terms than Twitter’s cuts last week (about 50 per cent); however, the number of employees expected to lose their jobs could be “largest to date at a major technology corporation in a year that has seen a tech-industry retrenchment”. The company currently has approximately 87,000 employees.

The report adds that the dismissal process in Meta would begin on Wednesday, November 9. A spokesperson told the publication that the company would focus on “investments in a small number of high-priority growth areas” without confirming the layoffs. Senior managers have also reportedly told employees to cancel non-essential travel beginning this week.

Job cuts at Meta were expected after the company’s revenue declined for two straight financial quarters. Even CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees at an August meeting that “a lot of people in the company who shouldn’t be here.” However, at the meeting, Zuckerberg also noted that it’s “okay” if workers think they don’t belong in the Meta.

In early September, The Wall Street Journal reported that Meta could cut spending by at least 10 per cent by cutting jobs. The company blamed macroeconomic situations for the drop in revenue. Like most other tech giants, Meta grew significantly during the peak COVID lockdown and even added 27,000 employees in 2020 and 2021 combined. Now, he’s feeling the heat due to rising inflation, the challenges of TikTok and Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT), and the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The company remains optimistic about its growth, especially its Metaverse project, although its developer, Reality Labs, needs to turn a profit. Zuckerberg addressed the concerns during his latest earnings call. “I get that a lot of people might disagree with this investment,” Zuckerberg said. But, he added, “People are going to look back on decades from now and talk about the importance of the work that was done here”.