Employee morale at Meta HQ is at an all-time low, as the company confirms its next tumultuous round of layoffs.
The news, revealed in an internal memo on Tuesday, warned employees in North America to stay home the following day if in-person attendance wasn’t considered critical for their role.
The teams affected include Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, as well as the team responsible for company’s virtual reality division. As the social media empire pivots towards a “year of greater efficiency,” staff numbers continue to dwindle, with more layoffs expected to be announced in May.
Meta Reduces Headcount Further
Cost-cutting measures at Meta have taken a turn for the worse, as the company makes even further cuts to its already diminishing headcount, according to Bloomberg.
In a company memo, Meta managers were warned that the company would be letting people go, and to prepare for cuts in various departments including WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram.
According to The Washington Post, teams in North America will be notified today, with technical teams — including engineers — surprisingly expected to face the brunt of it.
Lori Goler, Head of Human Resources at Meta, reportedly said, “it would be a difficult time for teams” but encourage those who do remain to show up for each other with support and compassion, according to Meta’s spokesman Dave Arnold.
“It will take time for everyone — both those leaving and those staying — to process tomorrow’s news, and I know teams will show up for each other with compassion, support, and care.” – Lori Goler, Head of Human Resources, Meta
The news comes just four months after Meta confirmed 11,000 layoffs and another 10,000 layoffs in March in a strategic move towards Zuckerberg’s 2023 goal of becoming “a leaner, more technical company” to improve performance — resulting in a 13% cut to its entire workforce.
More Meta Layoffs to Come
Despite leaving 5,000 vacant positions open to help bring down costs, Meta — like most businesses in the tech industry — is struggling. Since 2022, over 100,000 people have lost their jobs in tech, with the majority stemming from big companies including Microsoft, Amazon, IBM, and Intel.
Sadly, it doesn’t look as though tech layoffs are going anywhere anytime soon. And, even with a reduction in employee perks and the variety of cost-cutting measures made at Apple, Meta, and Google, it seems a bigger organization restructure was always inevitable.
In a company post, Meta mentioned further layoffs would take place in late May. In the interim, staff are encouraged to “focus on what they can” and support their teams. Zuckerberg stated:
“Change is never easy, but I know we’ll get through this and come out an even stronger company that can build better products faster and enable you to do the best work of your careers.”
How comforting those words are for his employees with jobs on the line still remains to be seen.
