Meta Begins Process Of Cutting Thousands Of Jobs With More Cuts Expected
Meta Platforms begins the process of laying off thousands of workers, as it moves forward with its "year of efficiency."
Meta Platforms (META), a company that is moving forward in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg calls a "year for efficiency," began the process to lay off workers on Wednesday. META's stock dropped on the news.
CNBC reported that Meta began laying off technical employees as part of the latest round of job reductions announced in March. According to the report, these restructurings and layoffs are expected to continue through May. Zuckerberg told Vox that he is also shrinking the size of his recruiting team due to the overall decrease in hiring.
As announced previously in November and March, the layoffs are a part of an extensive cost-cutting initiative that will ultimately eliminate more than 21,000.
META fell by 0.8% to 216.50 during the afternoon trade on today's stock market.
Zuckerberg claimed that Meta flattens the organization by canceling projects of lower priority and slowing down hiring. The cutbacks include those who work on Facebook, Instagram Reality Labs and WhatsApp.
META Stock: Sharp Reduction in Advertising
Tens of thousands have been cut from the tech industry this year. Among the reasons are concerns about economic weakness, fears of recession and high interest rates.
Facebook and other social media firms have also been hard hit by the sharp decline in digital advertising. Facebook spends billions of dollars on its risky bet, the "metaverse". Metaverse is an undeveloped virtual reality.
Meta laid off 11,000 employees in November, which is 13% of the company's workforce. Another 10,000 were cut in March. Meta's stock price has increased 136% since the announcement of its first round layoffs in November. Zuckerberg had pledged to make 2023 an "year of efficiency" at the social media giant.
Meta, along with all other social media companies is suffering due to the sharp drop in advertising, as companies are frightened by macroeconomic concerns.
Layoffs in the tech industry are due to over-hiring, which began around mid-2020. The tech industry was expecting a consumer spending spree to follow the lifting of Covid-19 threats, but this did not happen.