The latest round of layoffs will largely complete a restructuring that CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in March, aiming to cut 10,000 jobs. The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, said the layoffs were necessary to improve productivity after a hiring spree during the pandemic.
Meta says reducing its workforce allows it to release products and make decisions faster. The social media company’s stock is up more than 100% this year.
But Bloomberg sources said that some of the company’s key work and projects have been put on hold due to the layoffs. In the “limbo,” employees are unsure who to work with or how to transfer responsibilities between teams, while they themselves may be next to lose their jobs.
Mark Zuckerberg announced the affected business units weeks ago, leaving employees in those departments anxious and demotivated, or just working part-time until further notice.
The layoffs were announced via email at 5 a.m. in San Francisco. Meanwhile, the majority of local workforces in other countries were cut. In Ireland, Meta announced it planned to cut 490 positions, including in finance, sales, marketing and engineering. The company also closed Instagram’s London office earlier.
Since the first round of layoffs last November, which eliminated 13% of its workforce, Meta has undergone three more rounds of cuts. The company has also frozen hiring for most positions and asked mid-level managers to step up their individual contributions or risk losing their jobs.
Executives blame the rush on hiring during the pandemic, when people are forced to stay home and spend more time online on social media platforms.
Then, last year, Meta's revenue growth declined for the first time due to uncertain macroeconomic conditions, combined with changes to advertising policies imposed by Apple, which forced marketers to cut spending budgets.
Meanwhile, Mark Zuckerberg's "metaverse" project has cost the company billions of dollars without showing any signs of generating profits for at least a decade, causing the social networking company's stock to fall 64%, the deepest since Meta went public.
(According to Bloomberg)
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