Facebook’s parent firm Meta has said that the company is laying off more than 11,000 employees, which is 13 per cent of its total workforce, after a sharp decline in digital ad revenue and profit.
According to a report by the Wall Street Journal, in his latest meeting with senior executives, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is said to have confirmed “broad cuts” across the company, starting from Wednesday. Employees who lose their jobs would be provided at least four months of salary as a severance, according to the report.
“The most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history,” said Zuckerberg, while adding, “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 to those impacted.”
The mass layoff is the first broad head-count reduction to occur in Meta’s (earlier Facebook) 18-year history. The Facebook and Instagram parent company reported over 87,000 employees (as of September).
Meta, the parent company of Facebook along with Instagram and WhatsApp, had more than 87,000 employees by September end.
With these job cuts, Meta will join a slew of other tech firms, such as Stripe, Amazon, Lyft, Coinbase, Apple, and Snap among others, that have announced layoffs and hiring freezes in the wake of surging inflation and macroeconomic headwinds.
