Meta Confirms Layoffs—11,000 Jobs Cut At Facebook’s Parent Company

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram, confirmed plans to lay off thousands of workers on Wednesday, the latest tech giant to trim headcount amid gloomy economic forecasts and uncertain prospects.

Meta founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg told workers the firm will cut its headcount by 13%, or 11,000 employees, amid falling revenue, grim global economic forecasts and increased competition.
The firm will also extend its hiring freeze through the first quarter of 2023 and cut discretionary spending in a bid to become a more efficient and streamlined company, Zuckerberg said, as well as restructuring teams, reducing its real estate footprint and cutting perks.

Zuckerberg said the recruiting team would be disproportionately affected by the layoffs and business teams will be restructured “more substantially” than others to reflect new priorities.
Meta said it would pay U.S. workers 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service as part of its severance package, as well as cover health insurance for people and families for six months and pay for all remaining paid time off, with “similar” support for those outside the U.S. Zuckerberg took responsibility for the decisions and told employees he erroneously expected the surge of e-commerce and growth at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic would be a “permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended.”