Only months after laying off 11,000 workers, Meta Platforms Inc. plans to cut thousands more jobs in an effort to meet its financial and “efficiency” objectives.
When directors and vice presidents finish creating lists of staff who can be let go, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp may announce the cutbacks as soon as this week, according to Bloomberg, which quotes “people familiar with the matter.”
The planned cuts follow the conclusion of performance appraisals last week.
Meta made this decision after cutting 11,000 employees, or around 13% of its workforce, in November.
The corporation made its biggest-ever cutbacks in the fall, which highlighted its new organizational strategy and emphasis on developing its virtual “metaverse.”
At the time, CEO Mark Zuckerberg did not rule out further cuts. Since then, he has declared 2023 to be the company’s “year of efficiency,” pledging to make it “a stronger and more nimble organization.”
“We closed last year with some difficult layoffs and restructuring some teams,” Zuckerberg said last month, according to the Washington Post. “When we did this, I said clearly that this was the beginning of our focus on efficiency and not the end.”
Moreover, Meta has a goal of flattening its structure.
According to Bloomberg, the new cuts include dissolving nonessential staff, offering buyout bonuses to managers, and dissolving entire teams. Several employees have viewed the requests to move other managers into non-managerial jobs as demotions.
The Financial Times claims that Meta staff have not been given much information on what to expect moving forward, making it difficult for team leaders and project managers to schedule their workloads.
Workers informed the newspaper that as the impending cuts approach, “zero work” is being completed.
“The year of efficiency is kicking off with a bunch of people getting paid to do nothing,” another employee said, adding that day-to-day work “is a mess.”
Before Zuckerberg takes a parental leave of absence following the birth of his third child, which may occur in the upcoming weeks, the additional cuts are anticipated to be completed, according to Bloomberg.
Performance reviews are often followed by incentives, an employee reportedly told the site, though it’s not immediately apparent if the workers will be fired before getting them.
After overhiring during the COVID-19 pandemic, several IT behemoths, including Meta, are reducing their workforces.
According to Reuters, Microsoft Corp. and Alphabet Inc., the parent company of Google, have also slashed thousands of employees.
In addition, Amazon announced the largest round of layoffs in the history of the business and halted work on a second headquarters in Virginia.
