Meta Cuts 11,000 Jobs to Become ‘Leaner and More Efficient’

Big tech continues to reign in spending amid the current economic climate and on Wednesday, Meta announced it is slashing 13% of its workforce.

According to a message shared with employees by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, he said, “Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history.”

“I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go,” continued Zuckerberg, saying more changes are coming so Meta can “become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1.”

Employees being laid off will get 16 weeks of base pay plus two extra weeks for every year of service with no cap, while health insurance will be covered for six months, as part of some details shared.

“Outside the US, support will be similar, and we’ll follow up soon with separate processes that take into account local employment laws,” said Zuckerberg.

“We’ll share more on how we’ll operate as a streamlined organization to achieve our priorities in the weeks ahead. For now, I’ll say one more time how thankful I am to those of you who are leaving for everything you’ve done to advance our mission,” concluded the Meta CEO.

The news confirms an earlier report this week that massive layoffs were coming. Shares of Meta plunged as much as 23% after the company’s Q3 earnings report last month, where it saw a 4% decline in revenue and profit dropped 52% to $4.4 billion.

The company continues to invest billions into developing the ‘metaverse’, losing $9.4 billion so far this year, with the Meta Reality Labs units expected to see further losses into 2023 and beyond, said Meta.