Meta’s CEO, Mark Zuckerberg gave a speech of accountability, after laying off 13% of Meta’s workforce, which is 11,000 employees.
“I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go,” he started.
“We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1.”
Zuckerberg also pointed out that a move he thought was going to work to increase the Meta workforce failed, as it did not go as planned, even after he increased his investments.
“Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”
Zuckerberg talked about the way forward and how he plans on keeping Meta in the market.
“In this new environment, we need to become more capital efficient. We’ve shifted more of our resources onto a smaller number of high-priority growth areas — like our AI discovery engine, our ads and business platforms, and our long-term vision for the metaverse.”
“We’ve cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint. We’re restructuring teams to increase our efficiency.”
Zuckerberg has also promised to support laid-off employees through this difficult time in the ways his company can.
“Everyone will get an email soon letting you know what this layoff means for you. After that, every affected employee will have the opportunity to speak with someone to get their questions answered and join information sessions.”
In the United States, laid-off employees will receive:
- We will pay 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap.
- We’ll pay for all remaining PTO time.
- Everyone impacted will receive their November 15, 2022 vesting.
- We’ll cover the cost of healthcare for people and their families for six months.
- We’ll provide three months of career support with an external vendor, including early access to unpublished job leads.
- I know this is especially difficult if you’re here on a visa. There’s a notice period before termination and some visa grace periods, which means everyone will have time to make plans and work through their immigration status. We have dedicated immigration specialists to help guide you based on what you and your family need.
