Mark Zuckerberg has shared that Meta is laying off a further 10,000 members of staff and closing current open roles that are not yet filled.
Last year we saw Meta lay off over 11,000 members of staff and other big tech companies have followed suit. Microsoft let go of 10,000 employees, Google laid off 12,000 and Amazon also started letting people go.
Zuckerberg claims that these latest changes and layoffs are part of Meta’s Year of Efficiency, starting a blog post stating, “Meta is building the future of human connection.” It’s doubtful those being laid off will agree with the statement, but the goal is to make Meta an overall better company and improve its financial performance in a “difficult environment.”
More layoffs
Zuckerberg shared details of what to expect from the company, with the coming months seeing company leaders implementing restructuring plans, cancelling lower priority projects and reducing hiring rates. Since there will be less hiring, the recruiting teams will also be reduced. Restructuring and layoffs within tech groups are expected to happen in April and then business groups will also see layoffs in May.
All in all, Zuckerberg states that around 10,000 people will leave the company and it will close, on average, 5,000 open roles. In the blog post, Zuckerberg says, “This will be tough and there’s no way around that. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success. We will support people in the same ways we have before and treat everyone with the gratitude they deserve.” When layoffs happened last year, those employees were entitled to 16 weeks of pay, with two additional weeks per year of service at meta and six month’s paid healthcare cost.
These changes aim to flatten the company, with Zuckerberg noting that “in our Year of Efficiency, we will make our organisation flatter by removing multiple layers of management.” In doing this, the hope is to see work pass through fewer hands and ensure that information between workers and management is handled faster.
Focused on tech
The blog post notes that the company’s core is in technology and as part of Meta’s efficiency plan, it will return to an optimal ratio of engineers to other roles. The company is also looking at where this work will be done, with an internal study showing that those who joined the company in-person and then transferred to remote working or remained in-person performed better than those who joined remotely. While this requires further study, the company feels that it is easier to build trust in person, leading to better work.
On what’s on the horizon for Meta, Zuckerberg highlights its, “Single largest investment is advancing AI and building it into every one of our products.” This comes as no surprise, given the current buzz around AI and major companies such as Microsoft going all in on the technology.
Zuckerberg isn’t forgetting about the metaverse. After all, the company did rename itself to highlight the concept. The post notes that the metaverse’s evolution, “Remains central to defining the world’s population in new ways. This work is incredibly important and the stakes are high. The financial plan we’ve set out puts us in a position to deliver it.”
Paige Cook is a writer with a multi-media background. She has experience covering video games and technology and also has freelance experience in video editing, graphic design, and photography. Paige is a massive fan of the movie industry and loves a good TV show, if she is not watching something interesting then she's probably playing video games or buried in a good book. Her latest addiction is virtual photography and currently spends far too much time taking pretty pictures in games rather than actually finishing them.
