(Finance) – Meta Platformsthe company that controls Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has decided to reduce its workforce by approximately 13%, laying off more than 11,000 employees. After days of rumors about the actual extent of the cut in the workforce, the official has arrived, with one letter sent by founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg to employees and also published on the company’s website. This is the first time in its 18-year history that the company has implemented such a marked staff reduction. Meta Platforms had over 87,000 employees at the end of September, 28% more than a year earlier.
“At the start of Covid, the world moved quickly online andsurge in e-commerce led to immeasurable revenue growth – wrote Zuckerberg – Many people predicted this would be apermanent acceleration which would continue even after the end of the pandemic. I did too, so I decided to significantly increase our investments. Unfortunately, this didn’t go as I expected“.
“Not only has online commerce returned to previous trends, but the macroeconomic recession, increased competition and the loss of advertising signals meant that our revenue was much lower than I expected,” he continued. I was wrong, and I take responsibility for it“.
In addition to layoffs, Meta Platforms has already begun to reduce costs across the business, including the budget reduction, benefit reduction and real estate footprint reduction. For example, the company is shifting to desk sharing for people who already spend most of their time out of the office.
For employees laid off in the United States, among other things, they will be guaranteed 16 weeks of basic pay plus two additional weeks for each year of service, without any maximum limit. In addition, the company will cover the cost of health care for individuals and their families for six months, and will provide three months of professional support with an external provider to access new job vacancies.
The company decided to remove access to most Meta systems for those affected by the cuts, “given the amount of access to sensitive information” but will keep email addresses active throughout the day so everyone can greet each other and exchange the latest information.
“We are also extending our hiring block to the first quarter with a limited number of exceptions – Zuckerberg revealed – I will look at our business performance, operational efficiency and other macroeconomic factors to determine if and when we should resume hiring at that point.
(Photo: Photo by Mariia Shalabaieva on Unsplash)