Facebook Parent Meta Has 'Quietly' Begun Layoffs Amid 10% Cost Cutting Measures, Says Report

Facebook¡¯s parent company Meta Platforms is planning to cut expenses by at least 10% in the coming months, which is expected to be partially done through staff reductions, i.e. layoffs. This comes amidst the social-media giant confronting stalling growth and increased competition, according to people familiar with the company¡¯s plans, as per The Wall Street Journal.

Facebook Parent Meta Has Reportedly Begun Layoffs

The California-based company has even begun quietly nudging out a significant number of staffers by re-organizing departments and giving affected employees a limited window to apply for other roles within the company, according to current and former managers familiar with the matter.

This is being seen as a move to achieve staffing cuts while forestalling the mass issuance of pink slips.

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The reductions are expected to be a prelude to deeper cuts, according to people informed of the company¡¯s plans. While some savings will come from cuts to overhead and consulting budgets, the people said, much of it is expected to come from reduced employment, as per the report.

The moves come after weeks of Meta executives publicly discussing the need for hiring freezes and ¡°ruthless prioritization¡± of its business, while avoiding the use of the word layoffs.

In response to questions, Meta spokesman Tracy Clayton reportedly referred to CEO Mark Zuckerberg¡¯s July statement that the company would need to reallocate resources toward corporate priorities as pressures mount on the business.

¡°We¡¯ve been public about the need for our teams to shift to meet these challenges,¡± Mr Clayton said. He said giving displaced employees a period to apply for new jobs is a means of retaining talent that Meta might otherwise lose. However, he declined to mention how many employees have been affected by the recent moves.

The report says that among some Meta employees, the process of reapplying for jobs within a limited window internally is known as a sort of human-resources purgatory they call the ¡°30-Day List.¡±

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Also Read: Goldman Sachs' Biggest Layoffs Since Pandemic

Changing Trends At The Company

For quite a long period, Meta reportedly has had a practice that employees whose roles are eliminated are subject to termination if they can¡¯t find a new job internally within a month. Many other companies also tend to make efforts to re-assign employees whose groups are closed or restructured.

Historically at Meta, it was usually only employees that were deemed undesirable who failed to land new positions. Now, affected employees and managers say, even workers with good reputations and strong performance reviews are being pushed out on a regular basis.

Meta reported having 83,553 employees at the end of the second quarter, up 32% from a year ago, as per the report.

Recent Layoffs By Other Giants

In recent weeks and months, many startups and big companies have announced layoffs. Tech giant Microsoft reportedly laid off nearly 1,800 employees in July 2022, which affected almost 1% of its 1,80,000-strong workforce. Before that, Elon Musk¡¯s Tesla had begun laying off employees as part of the targeted 10% reduction in the workforce in June 2022.

Also, American automobile manufacturing giant Ford confirmed last month that it was laying off roughly 3,000 employees and contract workers. Snapchat¡¯s developer company Snap Inc., too, has been reportedly planning to lay off around 20% of its nearly 6,500 employees came out, which is likely to impact over 1,000 employees.

Not only that, earlier this month, PVH Corp, the owner of famous brands such as Tommy Hilfiger and Calvin Klein, announced job cuts. The company had said that it plans ¡°to reduce people costs in its global offices by approximately 10%¡± by the end of the next year to improve efficiency.

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