Facebook owner Meta kicks off latest round of layoffs

New Delhi: Meta Platforms Inc began carrying out the latest batch of a three-part round of layoffs on Wednesday, according to a source familiar with the matter, as part of a plan announced in March to cut 10,000 positions.

In March, Meta became the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of layoffs, after showing the door to more than 11,000 employees in the fall. The cuts reduced the company’s headcount to where it was in mid-2021, following a hiring spree that doubled its workforce since 2020. (Also read: 8 Signs He’s in Love With You: Check)

Some employees took to platforms like LinkedIn on Wednesday to announce they were being laid off in a round that was expected to deeply affect ad sales, marketing and partnership teams. (Also read: 9 most popular mobile phones of all time)

Meta shares fell 0.4% in premarket trading

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in March that most of the layoffs in the company’s second round would come in three “moments” over several months, largely ending by May. Some smaller rounds could continue after that, he said.

In general, the cuts hit non-engineering roles the most, reinforcing the primacy of code writers at Meta. Zuckerberg pledged in March to restructure business teams “substantially” and return to a “more optimal ratio of engineers to other roles.”

Even among cuts specifically targeted at technology teams, the company eliminated non-engineering functions such as content design and user experience research, according to executives who spoke at a company town hall afterward.

About 4,000 employees lost their jobs in the April layoffs, Zuckerberg said during the town hall, following a minor hit to recruiting teams in March. The layoffs at Meta came after months of declining revenue growth amid high inflation and a digital advertising pullback due to the pandemic e-commerce boom.

The company has also been pouring billions of dollars into its metaverse-oriented Reality Labs unit, which lost $13.7 billion in 2022, and into a project to get its infrastructure in shape to support artificial intelligence work.