Meta Expected to Lay Off Thousands as Tech Companies Look to Downsize

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, is expected to begin mass layoffs amid wider cutbacks in the tech industry, The Washington Post reports.

Meta’s layoffs would be the first wide-scale job cuts in the company’s 18-year history.

The company has faced increased competition for ad dollars and users as newer rivals like TikTok continue to grow.

Facebook’s ad business has also taken a hit after Apple forced app makers to allow users to opt out of the app tracking their activity on the internet.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on an earnings call last month that the company is expected to end 2023 “either roughly the same size, or even a slightly smaller organization than we are today.”

“So that means some teams will grow meaningfully, but most other teams will stay flat or shrink over the next year,” he said.

Twitter:

The news comes amid mass layoffs at Twitter following Elon Musk’s takeover last month.

The company reportedly cut its workforce by about half, laying off about 3,800 employees.

But Bloomberg reports that the company is already asking some laid off employees to return.

“Regarding Twitter’s reduction in force, unfortunately there is no choice when the company is losing over $4M/day. Everyone exited was offered 3 months of severance,” Musk tweeted.

Other tech companies:

Other tech companies are also downsizing.

The ride-sharing service Lyft plans to cut 13% of its staff.

Online payment processor Stripe plans to cut 14% of its workforce.

Financial tech firm Chime plans to lay off 12% of its workers.

Real estate marketplace Zillow plans to cut 5% of its workers.

The crowdfunding site GoFundMe plans to lay off 12% of its workers.

Apple and Amazon have reportedly ordered hiring freezes.

“This is a manifestation of the slowing in tech,” Vanderbilt University Prof. Josh White told the Post. “For them to make money, sometimes it takes years. I think we’re seeing an unwinding now that’s typical of cost cutting measures when we see a slowing economy. Their value comes from their intellectual property which is patents, trade secrets or people. You can’t cut costs on patents. Trade secrets are what they are. That just leaves people. That’s where you have to cut costs.”

 

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