Meta’s Business Groups Cut in Latest Round of Layoffs

Facebook-parent company Meta has begun implementing layoffs within its business groups, as confirmed by social media posts from affected employees.

Workers in operations, project management, marketing, policy, communications, and risk analytics took to LinkedIn to announce their layoffs.

While Meta declined to confirm the ongoing reductions, a spokesperson referred to CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s March blog post, which stated that the company would be cutting 10,000 employees this year and that members of the business groups would be notified in May.

Zuckerberg had previously indicated that the business groups would be the final major round of layoffs.

Notifications were sent to laid-off members of Meta’s technology and recruiting teams over the past two months, with smaller reductions potentially continuing until the end of 2023, as stated by Zuckerberg in March.

This latest round of 10,000 job cuts marks the second significant wave of layoffs at Meta.
In November, the company announced the elimination of approximately 11,000 jobs, which accounted for around 13% of its workforce.

Meta reported a headcount of 87,314 in September, and with the November and March layoffs, the headcount will drop to approximately 66,000, assuming no further hiring takes place.

The layoffs are part of Meta’s “year of efficiency” strategy aimed at recovering from revenue declines, increased competition, concerns about user growth, and significant losses in its Reality Labs division during the company’s shift toward building the metaverse.

Zuckerberg has also acknowledged over-hiring during the pandemic’s early stages when demand for Meta’s products and online advertising was strong but later declined once the world reopened.

Although Meta’s turnaround strategy is showing early signs of success, with a 3% year-over-year revenue increase in the first quarter of 2023, profits have declined by nearly a quarter compared to the previous year.

Additionally, the price per advertisement, an indicator of the health of Meta’s core digital ad business, decreased by 17% year-over-year.

Zuckerberg expressed during an earnings call last month that Meta’s “efficiency work” began when the company’s business performance was not meeting expectations but has now gained strength.

However, the layoffs have left a significant impact on the thousands of affected employees, with one worker describing it as a “shock to the system” and highlighting the difficulty of losing a job in a field they care about.