Sweeping Layoffs At Meta
Meta Platforms Inc. has started the final segment of its three-phase employee downsizing, an informed source revealed on Wednesday. The job elimination plan, announced in March, aimed at cutting 10,000 positions, marking the second mass layoff at the company.
A Reset to Mid-2021 Staff Numbers
In an unprecedented move, Meta became the first tech giant to declare a second round of substantial job cuts after parting ways with over 11,000 staff members last fall. These layoffs reset the company's workforce size back to mid-2021 after a recruitment surge that doubled the workforce size since 2020.
Impact Across Teams, Shares Under Pressure
Employees affected by the layoffs, particularly from ad sales, marketing, and partnerships, shared their predicament on platforms like LinkedIn. Following this news, Meta's shares dipped by 0.4% in premarket trading.
Zuckerberg's Vision for Meta
Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced in March that most layoffs would be conducted in three distinct phases, expected to conclude by May, with the possibility of smaller cuts continuing after that. This move primarily affected non-engineering roles, emphasizing the importance of coding roles within Meta. Zuckerberg expressed a commitment to restructure the business teams significantly and maintain a balanced ratio of engineers to other roles.
Non-engineering Roles Hit Hard
As per insights from a company town hall meeting, even technology teams were not immune, with non-engineering roles such as content design and user experience research facing the brunt. Zuckerberg confirmed that 4,000 employees were laid off in the April phase, preceded by a minor cut to recruitment teams in March.
Challenges and Meta's Future Vision
Meta's decision to lay off comes after several months of diminishing revenue growth amid high inflation and a retreating digital ad sector post-pandemic e-commerce boom. The company has also been investing billions into its metaverse-focused Reality Labs unit, which posted a $13.7 billion loss in 2022, and projects to bolster its infrastructure for artificial intelligence work.
