According to people familiar with the matter, social media giant Meta officially launched the second round of major layoffs announced earlier this week, starting with 1,500 layoffs from the recruitment and human resources departments.
In an internal meeting with employees, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the economic environment that forces the company to lay off employees and restructure may last for many years, according to foreign media citing people familiar with the matter. People familiar with the matter also revealed that yesterday in the United States, Mark Zuckerberg had informed Meta executives of the first wave of layoffs in the second round.
Back on March 14, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Meta planned to lay off about 10,000 more employees and eliminate 5,000 open positions, but has not yet notified everyone affected. For example, layoffs in the engineering department are planned for April. In November last year, Meta carried out its first round of major layoffs, with a total of 11,000 people (about 13% of the total workforce) being laid off.
Mark Zuckerberg told employees that the layoffs were more tied to performance, but the latest layoffs were driven by financial needs and product prioritization, people familiar with the matter said. A spokesman for Meta declined to comment on the layoffs.
At the all-hands meeting, Mark Zuckerberg was asked how employees trusted the company’s leadership after two rounds of layoffs. He responded that he wanted his performance to be evaluated against the company’s performance and mission transparency, but that leadership should also be allowed to change their minds.
Mark Zuckerberg explained: “The way people evaluate whether they should trust me and whether they want to continue to work at this company is whether we are successfully moving towards the overall goal that we set out. It has something to do with the quality of the transcripts we handed over.”
Mark Zuckerberg declared earlier this year that 2023 would be the “Year of Efficiency” after months of declining revenue. The social media giant, which derives most of its revenue from digital advertising, is facing increasing competition for advertising dollars and attracting users from new social media market entrants such as short video network TikTok. The company also admitted that it overestimated how much the e-commerce market would grow post-pandemic.
During the meeting, Mark Zuckerberg was also asked about the future of remote work. The company noted on Tuesday that an early analysis showed that employees who had worked in a corporate office and then started telecommuting performed better on average than those who joined the company remotely. Mark Zuckerberg did not rule out new rules that would force people to return to the office by a certain time. The company has decided to temporarily suspend most remote hiring, he added.
At the meeting, Mark Zuckerberg was also asked how Meta employees could be more productive amid the looming threat of layoffs and program cuts. Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that announcing the layoffs ahead of time would create a period of uncertainty, but said, “We can’t pause while we work things out.” Be prepared.
