In Second Round of Layoff, Meta Dismisses 10,000 Staff, Withdraws 5,000 Open Roles

Meta is planning a second round of layoff with 10,000 employees affected and 5,000 open roles withdrawn.

Mark Zuckerberg, Co-founder and CEO of Meta also disclosed that the company will cancel lower priority projects, as the indirect costs of these initiatives were not taken into cognizance.

Added to the 11,000 members cut off in the first round, Meta is letting go one-quarter of its workforce within the period. The tech giant says the latest restructuring efforts will start in its tech groups in April, followed by its business groups in May.

In Zuckerberg’s words: “With less hiring, I’ve made the difficult decision to further reduce the size of our recruiting team. We will let recruiting team members know tomorrow whether they’re impacted. We expect to announce restructurings and layoffs in our tech groups in late April, and then our business groups in late May. 

In a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes. Our timelines for international teams will also look different, and local leaders will follow up with more details. Overall, 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 yet hired.”

Following its initial move, Meta believes that the layoffs have had a good impact on the company’s operations:

“Since we reduced our workforce last year, one surprising result is that many things have gone faster. In retrospect, I underestimated the indirect costs of lower priority projects.”

Zuckerberg noted that a leaner organization will execute its highest priorities faster, while workers will be more productive, and their work will be more fun and fulfilling. “We will become an even greater magnet for the most talented people. That’s why in our Year of Efficiency, we are focused on cancelling projects that are duplicative or lower priority and making every organization as lean as possible.”

In a concluding statement focusing on the way forward, Zuckerberg said: “In terms of how we should operate during this period, I encourage each of you to focus on what you can control. That is, do great work and support your teammates. Our community is extremely resilient. Change is never easy, but I know we’ll get through this and come out with an even stronger company that can build better products faster and enable you to do the best work of your careers.”

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