Meta May Begin Massive Layoffs This Week

Meta could begin large-scale layoffs this week, according to a report form the Wall Street Journal.

The layoffs could affect thousands of employees, marking the first major headcount reduction in Meta's history. The company employs more than 87,000 people as of the end of September.

Zuckerberg earlier said during the company's earnings call last month:

In 2023, we’re going to focus our investments on a small number of high priority growth areas. That means some teams will grow meaningfully, but most other teams will stay flat or shrink over the next year. In aggregate, we expect to end 2023 as either roughly the same size, or even a slightly smaller organization than we are today.

Meta is currently facing a number of challenges amid a slowing global economy, competition from TikTok, privacy changes from Apple, fears of massive spending on the meta universe and the ever-present threat of regulation.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he expects the investment in the metaverse to bear fruit in about a decade. In the meantime, he has had to freeze hiring, close projects and reorganise teams to cut costs.

Meta shares have fallen 73% this year, reaching their lowest level since early 2016, which has put the company at the bottom of the S&P 500 index this year.