In a continuation of its restructuring efforts, Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has announced another round of layoffs (CNBC). The layoffs, which began on Wednesday, will primarily target technical staff, with the company letting go of the first wave of roughly 10,000 employees it announced in March (Engadget). Commenting on the layoffs, a Meta spokesperson stated that the company’s aim is to build a “simpler, nimbler, and more focused company,” and that these layoffs were simply a part of that effort (NDTV.com).
According to reports, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been particularly focused on making the company more efficient this year, as evidenced by recent moves such as remote layoffs and virtual work (Fortune). Zimmerman is joining McDonald’s and Google in laying off thousands in the metaverse. Unfortunately, these recent layoffs may have angered some employees, particularly engineers and adjacent tech teams, who are now dealing with job cuts for the second time this year (NDTV.com).
Wednesday’s layoffs come after a wave of recent downsizing and restructuring (The Washington Post), and follows the announcement made in November 2021 that the company would change its name from Facebook to Meta in a rebrand that was meant to signal its push into the metaverse space (The New York Times). While the move towards the metaverse has been an important focus for the company, it has also come with significant financial costs, which have likely contributed to the recent restructuring and layoffs (The Guardian).
Despite the layoffs, Meta remains one of the most valuable companies in the world and a major player in the tech industry (Fortune). As the company continues to reshape itself in the hope of developing a stronger presence in the metaverse space, employees and investors alike will be watching closely to see how these latest efforts impact the future of the company.
