Giant tech company Meta has revealed plans to commence a company-wide layoff, as it works towards its 2023 theme for the year which it tagged “year of efficiency”.
As announced last month, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg disclosed that the company’s cost-cutting measures will ultimately impact 10,000 positions, also noting that another round of layoff will take place in May.
Zuckerberg said in a statement, “We expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t. This will be tough and there is no way around that. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success. They have dedicated themselves to our mission and I am personally grateful for all their efforts. We will support people in the same ways we have before and treat everyone with the gratitude they deserve”.
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Zuckerberg disclosed that Meta is focusing on the long term as it invests in tools that turn effective over years, including its development of AI tools. “Our single largest investment is in advancing AI and building it into every one of our products,” he said.
Reports reveal that the company’s proposed layoff will impact Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, and reality labs, as a companywide memo has already instructed managers to prepare to announce job cuts on Wednesday. According to the info passed across to managers, teams will be reorganized and various remaining employees will be reassigned to work under new managers.
Recall that Zuckerberg declared 2023 as the “year of efficiency” as Meta focuses on becoming “a stronger and more nimble organization” this year. His commitment to cost cuts and efficiency is a sign that increasing profitability is important to the company, which has witnessed massive growth before last year’s decline.
As part of the company’s year-long restructuring, Meta plans to lift hiring and transfer freezes in each group. The tech giant will focus on returning to a more optimal ratio of engineers to other roles. Zuckerberg also disclosed that Meta is preparing for the possibility that the current economic reality will continue for many years.
Following the current economic downturn, high inflation, and Global inflation rate, that has impacted several tech companies around the world, which has led to massive layoffs of workers. In 2023, tech’s traditional big spenders are refocusing their priorities and staffing choices.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has already announced 2023 as a “year of efficiency”, to navigate the economic downturn. Also, several tech leaders such as Amazon CEO Andy Jassy have doubled down on efficiency talk during his earnings call as the company seeks to harness the potential of the massive transportation network it has been investing in for the past few years.
Also, Google CEO Sundar Pichai said belt-tightening is well underway at Alphabet during the company’s earnings call, and the process will include a “careful focus on our hiring needs.”
In addition to layoffs, tech giants are trimming entire projects and reorganizing their spending to reduce expenses.