Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg kicked off 2023 by calling for a “year of efficiency” after the company had a “challenging year” in 2022. Then, nearly six weeks later in March, Zuckerberg issued an update to the initiative — 10,000 layoffs.
The memo said tech workers will be informed of restructuring and layoffs in April, and business groups will find out in May. In a small number of groups, restructuring, and layoffs might take until the end of the year.
On Wednesday, the latest round of cuts took place — right on schedule — and affected technical workers in roles such as engineering, graphics, and user experience.
“Well, friends, I’m sad to share I was a part of today’s round of layoffs at Meta,” one affected worker wrote on LinkedIn. “I’m about halfway through my maternity leave and extremely bummed to have to start a job search.”
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The restructuring and layoffs intend to reduce the size of the company by approximately 10,000 people, and it will close about 5,000 job openings that haven’t been filled yet.
Zuckerberg wrote in the March announcement that sharing a layoff timeline was his attempt to be more transparent. “I recognize that sharing plans for restructuring and layoffs months in advance creates a challenging period,” he said. “But last fall, we heard feedback that you wanted more transparency sooner into any restructuring plans, so that’s what I’m trying to provide here.”
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