'Large-Scale' Layoffs Expected at Meta

UPDATE 11/9: As expected, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg this morning announced that Meta will lay off 11,000 employees, or 13% of its workforce.

Original Story:
It's a bad time to be employed at a major US tech firm: Meta Inc. is reportedly preparing for large-scale layoffs this week.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram parent company could make its biggest-ever round of cuts as early as Wednesday.

The reductions—though smaller on a percentage basis than Twitter's recent downsizing—could mark the largest volume to date of employees expected to lose their jobs at a major technology corporation.

Meta did not immediately respond to PCMag's request for comment. A spokesperson, meanwhile, referred the Journal to CEO Mark Zuckerberg's recent statement that the company will "focus our investments on a small number of high-priority growth areas."

"So that means some teams will grow meaningfully, but most others teams will stay flat or shrink over the next year," Zuckerberg said during an Oct. 26 third-quarter earnings call. "In aggregate, we expect to end 2023 as either roughly the same size, or even a slightly smaller organization than we are today."

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It's no secret Meta is looking for a way to cut expenses, in part through staff reductions, which it's been rolling out over several months. "Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn't be here," Zuckerberg told employees at a companywide meeting in June.

The tech titan, which recently invested in artificial intelligence and virtual reality, added more than 42,340 employees since the COVID-19 pandemic struck. Meanwhile, the Journal reports, its stock continues to fall and growth remains stagnant amid competition from TikTok and the impact of Apple's privacy-focused tracking permissions.

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B.A. in Journalism & Public Relations with minor in Communications Media from Indiana University of Pennsylvania (IUP)

Reporter at The Frederick News-Post (2008-2012)

Reporter for PCMag and Geek.com (RIP) (2012-present)

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