As Meta doubles down on its cost-cutting efforts, the social media giant has started letting go of approximately 6,000 workers, in its third and “final” round of layoffs that were announced earlier this year in March.
This follows similar actions made in April, with members of Meta's business groups bearing the brunt of this latest round. As Meta's CEO, Mark Zuckerburg marches ahead with the company's “year of efficiency”, the social media mega-weight's profits and share price are showing promising signs of recovery.
However, with remaining workers understandably jaded by the recent events, these successes, unfortunately, come at a cost to the company's workforce.
Meta Begins its Final Round of Layoffs
After announcing that it would be letting go of staff throughout April and May, Meta has stayed true to its word by beginning its last, and final round of layoffs.
According to sources close to the company, around 6,000 employees have been handed the pink slip, with members of Meta's business teams being impacted the most. This marks the company's third series of cuts to date, with 11,000 workers being dismissed last November, and approximately 4,000 staffers being laid off in April.
While Zuckerburg claims this is the final time workers will be made redundant en masse, a blog post released by the company in March explained that may take until the end of 2023 for these changes to be finalized.
Throughout the company's ‘year of efficiency', Facebook's owner also froze recruiting for around 5,000 roles too, as part of a multi-pronged effort to manage its headcount – but Meta's personnel challenges aren't just being played out on home soil.
“In a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes. Our timelines for international teams will also look different, and local leaders will follow up with more details.” – Meta blog post from March
Around 490 workers have been axed from the company's international headquarters in Ireland too, a figure equating to almost 20% of the location's total workforce. The cuts impact individuals across a range of teams, including finance, sales, marketing, and engineering.
Meta's post-pandemic hiring spree throughout 2020 and 2021 saw the company's headcount increase by more than double. As the climate grows increasingly hostile for big tech companies, these measures are part of a radical effort to bring down employee expenses – but are they paying off?
Is Meta's ‘Year of Efficiency' Paying Off?
2023 has been anything but plain sailing for Meta. The company's pledge to streamline its efficiency has resulted in over 21,000 employee casualties and stripped-back perks for its remaining teams.
So, have these belt-tightening measures been worth it? Well, if the company's share price is anything to go by, then they just might be.
The social media company's shares have more than doubled in value throughout 2023, and have consistently ranked among the top performers in the S&P 500 index. Despite consumer demand wavering for most of big tech, Meta reported better-than-expected earnings in the first quarter of the year too, with revenue climbing 3% year-on-year.
However, while gains have been made, the company was forced to sell its app database Giphy to Shutterstock this week at a significant loss. And with the forecast for big tech likely worse before it gets better, there's no guarantee on what the rest of 2023 could bring.
