Facebook parent Meta to cut 10,000 jobs in second round of mass lay-offs
- The move is part of a restructuring that will see the firm not fill 5,000 openings, kill off low-priority projects and ‘flatten’ layers of middle management
- Meta had already eliminated 11,000 jobs – 13 per cent of its workforce – in the fall, after a hiring spree that doubled its 2020 employee count
Facebook parent Meta Platforms said on Tuesday it would cut 10,000 jobs this year, making it the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass lay-offs as the industry braces for a deep economic downturn.
The widely anticipated job cuts are part of a restructuring that will see the company scrap hiring plans for 5,000 openings, kill off lower-priority projects and “flatten” layers of middle management.
They followed the company’s first mass lay-off in the fall, which eliminated more than 11,000 jobs, or 13 per cent of its workforce at the time, after a hiring spree that doubled the employee count it had as of 2020.
Worries of an economic downturn due to rising interest rates have sparked a series of mass job cuts across corporate America in recent months. Technology companies have led the way, shedding more than 290,000 workers since the start of 2022, according to tracking site Layoffs.fyi.
01:51
Meta opens a physical retail store where customers take a first look at virtual reality
Meta’s purge of employees has been one of the sector’s most pronounced. On top of inflation woes, the company is also facing down unique threats to its core digital ads business, while spending handsomely on chief executive Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to build a futuristic metaverse.