Facebook’s parent company Meta Platforms has sacked 11,000 employees, nearly 13% of its staff globally.
The company is also likely to extend the freeze it has imposed on new hiring.
The Facebook parent company reported over 87,000 employees at the end of September.
"I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted," Meta chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg said.
Meta layoffs come a few days after Elon Musk-led Twitter sacked around 50 per cent of its employees globally in an effort to reduce costs.
In June, Meta said it planned to cut its hiring of engineers by at least 30% this year.
In July, Meta posted its first quarterly revenue decline in history, followed by another, bigger decline in October.
In September, Meta announced a pause in hiring and a subsequent restructuring with Mark Zuckerberg hinting at further downsizing, adding “there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.”
“I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilised by now, but from what we're seeing it doesn't yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively," Zuckerberg told employees during the Q&A session.
Meta has worried investors by pouring over $10 billion a year into the “metaverse” as it shifts its focus away from social media.
A Bloomberg report said Meta will also reduce its real estate footprint, review its infrastructure spending and transition some employees to desk sharing. This is likely to be followed by more cost-cutting announcements in the coming months.
Meta, whose stock has plunged 71% this year, is taking steps to pare costs following several quarters of disappointing earnings and a slide in revenue.
There's also the challenge of Apple's privacy tools, which make it more difficult for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snap to track people without their consent and target ads to them.
