Meta Plans To Lay Off Thousands More Of Its Workers This Week

Meta Platforms Inc. plans to shed thousands more jobs just months after laying off 11,000 workers in an effort to meet financial and “efficiency” targets.

According to Bloomberg, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp could announce the layoffs as soon as this week as directors and vice presidents finish drafting lists of staff who can be let go.

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The probable layoffs follow the completion of performance appraisals last week. This move comes after Meta laid off 11,000 workers, or around 13% of its workforce, in November.

The company’s fall layoffs were the largest in its history, highlighting the company’s new focus on reorganisation and focusing development on its virtual “metaverse.”

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At the time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg did not rule out additional cuts and has since said 2023 would be a “year of efficiency” for the company, committing to “becoming a stronger and more nimble organization.”

“We closed last year with some difficult layoffs and restructuring some teams,” Zuckerberg said last month, “When we did this, I said clearly that this was the beginning of our focus on efficiency and not the end.”

Meta has also set a goal to flatten its organization.

According to Bloomberg, the additional cuts include the elimination of non-essential staff, the provision of buyout incentives to managers, and the elimination of entire teams. Some managers are being asked to move to non-management jobs, which some employees see as demotions.

According to the Financial Times, Meta staff have not been given much clarity about what they may expect in the future, leaving team leaders and project managers unable to plan their workloads.

Workers informed the publication that “zero work” is being done as the impending cuts approach. “The year of efficiency is kicking off with a bunch of people getting paid to do nothing,” another employee said, adding that day-to-day work “is a mess.”

According to Bloomberg, the latest cuts are anticipated to be approved before Zuckerberg goes on parental leave following the birth of his third kid, which might happen in the coming weeks.

According to the story, an employee told the publication that performance reports are usually accompanied by incentives — although it is unclear whether the employees would be fired before getting them.

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After over-hiring during the COVID-19 pandemic, several tech titans, including Meta, are restricting their workforces. According to Reuters, Microsoft Corp. and Google parent Alphabet Inc. have also slashed thousands of employees.

Amazon also announced the largest number of layoffs in its history and halted work on a second headquarters in Virginia.