The CEO of Meta Platforms, Mark Zuckerberg, announced yesterday in a statement that he plans to lay off 13 per cent of the workforce, or more than 11,000 people, because of the company’s declining revenue and broader problems in the tech industry. This is the second such mass reduction this week after job losses at Elon Musk’s Twitter.
“At Meta, we’re focused on building the fundamental technology that will help bring the metaverse to life, whether that’s in virtual reality, augmented reality, or the social presence layer across both,” Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of META platforms, said.
The mass layoffs are the first in Meta’s 18-year history. The pandemic-led boom that boosted tech companies and their valuations has turned into a bust this year in the face of decades-high inflation and rapidly rising interest rates.
Mark #Zuckerberg announced the layoff of 13% of the employees of #Meta Corporation (#Facebook). Eleven thousand people will be laid off.
This is the largest staff reduction in the company’s history. pic.twitter.com/4rBpijJkMj
— NEXTA (@nexta_tv) November 9, 2022
“I think the clock struck midnight for Facebook. You’re seeing significant growth challenges and now they’re cutting costs. Especially with this metaverse strategy, which is a risky bet. I think for Zuckerberg, this is going to be in our view as a moment of truth, how he navigates this,” Daniel Ives, Wedbush Securities, Managing Director, said.