Facebook logo and its parent company Meta
Meta, the parent company of the social networks Facebook and Instagram, will cut 10,000 more jobs, after a first wave of 11,000 layoffs in early November, Mark Zuckerberg announced.
In addition, the Menlo Park, California-based giant will eliminate 5,000 currently vacant positions from its organization chart and for which there will be no hiring, Zuckerberg said in a statement.
The first affected will be from the company’s human resources department, as the company officially ends the wave of hiring it carried out when big tech companies ramped up their operations to cope with high demand during the coronavirus pandemic.
In the months that follow, technology and business departments will also be affected and “in a small number of cases, it may take until the end of the year to complete these changes,” Zuckerberg said.
The co-founder of Facebook and visible head of the social network already warned in February that 2023 should be “the year of efficiency” for Meta and that it would focus on achieving “a stronger and more agile organization.”
With these two massive cuts of around 26,000 positions, Meta will have reduced its staff by 24%, a 180 degree turn in its policy since the group had never launched a layoff plan in its almost 20 years of existence.
For Zuckerberg, the decision is justified to “make (Meta) a better technology company” and “improve financial results in a difficult environment.” In addition to cutting jobs, the company will reduce the pace of hiring, added Zuckerberg, who also plans to “cancel non-priority projects.”
The group had already announced a hiring freeze until the end of March 2023.
jov (afp, tagesschau24)