Mark Zuckerberg is pulling out all the stops to avoid even more tech layoffs this year, as Meta reportedly asked many of its managers to step away from their roles in favor of individual contributor. You know, that or quit the company.
The news comes at a tumultuous time in the tech industry, as virtually every firm in Silicon Valley and beyond have been cutting costs in the form of employee layoffs. Some CEOs are even taking pay cuts, a true sign that the recession is heavy on the minds of those in the industry.
That is certainly the case at Meta, given the admittedly creative solution to cutting costs that the social media giant is employing.
Meta to Managers: Stop Managing or Quit
According to a Bloomberg report, mid-level management employees at Meta — the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — are being asked to step down from their managerial responsibilities in favor of more individual contribution roles.
Like the rest of the tech industry, Meta is in cost cutting mode, having just laid off 11,000 employees in November. The social media company has been anything but shy about its plans to trim down its spending, with Zuckerberg calling 2023 “the year of efficiency” for Meta.
“We’re focused on becoming a stronger and more nimble organization.” – Mark Zuckerberg
“Nimble” is the key word in this most recent decision, as Meta hopes to eliminate these middle management roles in an effort to speed up the decision-making process.
Are More Meta Layoffs Coming?
There’s a pretty good chance that more Meta layoffs are coming, if only because the company has been so vocal about its plans to lay off more of its employees. Still, this initiative to move managers to other roles could soften the blow for some, particularly because the logic behind trimming these roles is relatively sound.
“I don’t think you want a management structure that’s just managers managing managers, managing managers, managing managers, managing the people who are doing the work.” – Mark Zuckerberg
Amongst that word salad is a good point. Tech companies have gotten a bit bloated lately and efficiency is key during a recession.
However, had Zuckerberg and the rest of the tech industry not gone on a short-lived hiring frenzy during the economic boom following the release of the vaccine, these problems could’ve been avoided all together.
