Facebook and Instagram owner Meta Platforms announces new rounds of layoffs and will cut thousands of employees this week. These cuts aim to target the financial goals of the company after experiencing a slowdown in revenue.
Laying Off Thousands of Employees
Meta Platforms, the world's largest social networking company, is reducing its workforce, following multiple rounds of layoffs over the past few months. According to Bloomberg's report, this could be related to the company's efforts to flatten its organization and cut teams it deems nonessential.
As per the people who asked not to be identified, these fresh cuts are being conducted by financial targets. Meta has been experiencing a slowdown in revenue, especially in advertising as it shifted its focus to Metaverse. The company has been asking directors and vice presidents to make a list of employees that will be affected by the cuts.
By next week, this phase of layoffs could be finalized. As per the report, the people behind these plans are hoping to have the list ready before Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg goes on a paternal leave as he expects their family's third child.
The Strait Times reported that employees from Menlo Park, which is where the Meta headquarters are located, described their heightened anxiety and low morale among their co-workers lately. Some of them expressed their frustrations on whether they will receive their bonuses this month if they lose their jobs beforehand.
Previous Layoffs
Meta conducted mass layoffs that affected thousands of employees last November, hitting harder than Twitter's own mass layoffs. This was considered the company's first job cut that affected a huge number of people in history, 18 years after it launched.
About 13% of its workforce was reduced, affecting 11,00 employees. Aside from this, additional steps were also done like cutting discretionary spending and extending the company's freeze hiring. Zuckerberg stated, "I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I'm especially sorry for those impacted."
He added that the company will be focusing its investments on a small number of high-priority growth areas. This means that some teams will grow meaningfully. However, some teams will stay flat or shrink over this year.
These cuts are not surprising as TechTimes reported that Meta already expects to conduct further layoffs amid delays in annual budgets that would normally be done last month. These rumors and lack of clarity have left frustrations from the workers and lost their motivation for the company.
During the mass layoffs last year, affected employees were given 16 weeks of base pay and additional two weeks for every year of service with no cap, paid PTO time, RSU vesting, health insurance for six months, three-month support for career services, and immigration support. It remains unclear whether Meta will be giving the same for the fresh cuts.
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