In yet another round of mass layoffs, Meta is slashing 10,000 more jobs. Additionally, the Facebook parent company also announced the enforcement of a hiring freeze that’ll see about 5,000 open spots get withdrawn.
During last year’s mass layoffs, Meta had let go of more than 11,000 employees. The new round of layoffs brings the total count to around 21,000, or about a quarter of Meta’s total workforce before the layoffs. Meta had 86,482 employees as per an SEC it filed in January, but it also included most of the 11,000 employees who were laid off in the previous round.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has consistently dubbed 2023 as Meta’s “year of efficiency”. Addressing the changes at Meta, he also mentioned that Meta aims to build a leaner and more efficient workforce by cutting jobs.
The measures are intended to improve organizational efficiency, dramatically increase developer productivity and tooling, optimize distributed work, garbage collect unnecessary processes, and more.Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg once again reiterated his previous statements regarding efficiency and the need to slash low-priority roles in the workforce. The layoffs and the hiring freeze will help the tech giant improve its business performance to meet its long-term goals, he added.
The hiring freeze will be lifted once the restructuring is complete.
According to the blog post, Meta will also be canceling low-priority projects. Zuckerberg admitted to underestimating the indirect costs associated with these projects.
Meta is yet to specify what type of low-priority projects and roles it plans to cut off. However, Stephane Kasriel, the head of commerce and financial technologies, announced on Tuesday that Meta will be winding down its support for NFTs on Facebook and Instagram. The company will instead focus on other monetization initiatives.
Organizations to be flattened and restructured
In a memo Zuckerberg wrote to the staff (and was later made public), he revealed plans to flatten various organizations and divisions. In simpler words, the tech giant will be removing some of the layers of management.
People 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.Zuckerberg
According to the memo, the tech giant will be undergoing major organizational restructuring. In the current system, each manager reviews works before sending them higher up the hierarchy.
The restructuring will see many managers being asked to become individual contributors.
Under the restructured system, individual contributors will be reporting to topmost level to ensure a quicker flow of information.
Meta revealed in a separate SEC filing that the company estimates its expenses to be in the $86 billion to $92 billion range in 2023. Previously, the estimate ran up to around $95 billion.
The cost reduction is mostly a result of the recent restructuring measures taken by Meta and includes severance payouts.
Like most tech giants at the moment, Meta is focused heavily on artificial intelligence. The tech giant aims to shape the future of social connections and computing platforms by building the Metaverse.
Zuckerberg went on to emphasize that a leaner organization works more efficiently and executes its top priorities fast.
As revealed by Zuckerberg, advancing AI and integrating it into every single one of Meta’s products is the company’s single largest investment. Indeed, this might be one of the potential reasons behind Meta’s massive cost-cutting measures.
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Rebecka Michaud