On Tuesday, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta, the company he founded, would lay off 10,000 employees and close 5,000 open job listings.[0] This follows a similar round of layoffs in November which saw 11,000 people let go.[1] The CEO described it as the “year of efficiency,” and the move is intended to reduce costs and improve the company’s distributed work model.
The layoffs will impact teams working on wearable devices as part of the Reality Labs hardware and metaverse division.[2] Meta will reduce the size of its recruiting team and inform affected employees later today.[3] Layoff and restructuring efforts of its tech departments will be announced in late April and business teams in late May.[4]
The new economic reality “leads to slower growth and increased costs of innovation,” Zuckerberg said.[5] “At this point, I think we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years.”[6]
The CEO also encouraged employees to find more opportunities to work with their colleagues in person, as research suggests that engineers who join Meta in-person perform better on average than those who join remotely.[7]
The layoffs have been met with disappointment from those affected. Levy, 35, was part of Meta’s “Sourcer Development Program” which was designed to recruit workers from underrepresented backgrounds.[8] She was laid off after seven months and didn’t sign a severance package.[9]
Silicon Valley VC Keith Rabois of the so-called PayPal Mafia said that Big Tech companies like Meta and Google had hired thousands of people to do “fake work” to hit hiring metrics out of “vanity.”[10]
It’s unclear how the layoffs will impact Meta in the long run, but the company is gambling on investing in the metaverse and other areas may take a hit as a result. Despite the disappointment, employees are relieved to finally know their fate.
0. “Zuckerberg returns Silicon Valley to regularly scheduled programming: Morning Brief” Yahoo News, 15 Mar. 2023, https://news.yahoo.com/zuckerberg-returns-silicon-valley-to-regularly-scheduled-programming-morning-brief-093017158.html
1. “Meta to lay off another 10,000 as Zuckerberg celebrates “year of efficiency”” Ars Technica, 14 Mar. 2023, https://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2023/03/meta-to-lay-off-another-10000-as-zuckerberg-celebrates-year-of-efficiency
2. “Zuckerberg touts ‘year of efficiency’ as Meta lays off an additional 10,000 workers” Engadget, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.engadget.com/zuckerberg-touts-year-of-efficiency-as-meta-lays-off-an-additional-10000-workers-131957819.html
3. “Facebook Parent Meta to Cut Another 10K Jobs” CNET, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.cnet.com/tech/services-and-software/facebook-parent-meta-to-cut-another-10k-jobs/
4. “The Morning After: Meta lays off an additional 10,000 workers” Engadget, 15 Mar. 2023, https://www.engadget.com/the-morning-after-meta-lays-off-an-additional-10000-workers-115209372.html
5. “Meta Cuts Another 10,000 Jobs” Forbes, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.forbes.com/sites/dereksaul/2023/03/14/meta-cuts-another-10000-jobs
6. “Meta Platforms Stock: Due For A Time Correction?” Seeking Alpha, 16 Mar. 2023, https://seekingalpha.com/article/4587900-meta-platforms-stock-due-time-correction
7. “Mark Zuckerberg says engineers who joined Meta in-person perform better than those who joined remotely” TechCrunch, 14 Mar. 2023, https://techcrunch.com/2023/03/14/mark-zuckerberg-says-engineers-who-joined-meta-in-person-perform-better-than-those-who-joined-remotely/
8. “Laid Off Meta Employee Says the ‘Fake Work’ Stories Are True” Entrepreneur, 15 Mar. 2023, https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/laid-off-meta-employee-says-the-fake-work-stories-are-true/447676
9. “Meta ‘hoarded us like Pokemon cards’: Former staffer reveals she had to ‘fight for work’ at company” Yahoo Life, 16 Mar. 2023, https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/meta-hoarded-us-pokemon-cards-120104362.html
10. “Laid-off Meta worker says company paid her to not work” Business Insider, 14 Mar. 2023, https://www.businessinsider.com/laid-off-meta-employee-says-paid-not-to-work-2023-3