Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc. may start notifying employees of mass layoffs from this week, as per a report in the Wall Street Journal. Since the soon-to-happen layoffs at Meta may affect thousands of employees, the report also adds that this could be “the largest round in a recent spate of tech job cuts,” especially after this industry flourished during the COVID-19 pandemic.
With regards to the timeline, the report adds that an announcement of layoffs at Meta may come as soon as Wednesday. At the end of September, the Facebook parent reported more than 87,000 employees and reportedly asked them to cancel any non-essential travel, starting this week.
However, the report also goes on to mention that these Meta layoffs may be smaller on a percentage basis as compared to the Twitter layoffs, as in the latter, almost 50 per cent staff was sacked. A spokesperson for Meta refused to comment and referred to the Chief Mark Zuckerberg’s statement that Meta would focus its investments on a “small number of high priority growth areas,” as per the report.
Before this, the Zuckerberg-led Facebook parent reportedly already planned for targeted staff reducations. As per the WSJ, Zuckerberg also told Meta employees at a company meeting that there were a bunch of people who shouldn’t be there.
Recently, the mass layoffs at tech giants have caused havoc in the industry. With Twitter sacking almost 50 per cent of its workforce, and now Facebook parent Meta too, reportedly planning mass layoffs, the industry is in for a turmoil, as per experts.
