meta is reportedly preparing layoffs that will affect its flagship social media platform.
The company has told managers to prepare for the layoff announcement on Wednesday (April 19). Facebook, Instagram and whats upBloomberg News reportciting an internal memo.
According to the memo, Real Estate Institute, Meta’s virtual reality division is also affected. PYMNTS has reached out to Meta for comment, but has not yet received a response.
Wednesday’s cuts are part of a broader cost-cutting effort as Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg moves the company into a “year of efficiency.” Bloomberg reports that further layoffs are planned for next month.
Meta announced in March that it would cut 10,000 jobs in the first widespread layoff in the company’s history, after laying off 11,000 employees last November. He also plans to freeze the hiring of 5,000 open positions.
Mr. Zuckerberg said last month that the company will focus on profitability as it navigates the evolving global economy, increasing competitive pressures and slowing growth.
“At this point, I think we need to prepare for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years,” he wrote in a message to employees.
“Higher interest rates will make the economy leaner, geopolitical instability will increase volatility, and tighter regulation will lead to slower growth and higher costs of innovation. In order to do so, we need to operate more efficiently than we did with previous staff reductions.”
The company’s job cuts are part of a broader trend of layoffs in the tech industry, with companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft and, to a lesser extent, Apple all laying off staff in recent months.
But, as PYMNTS wrote in March, Meta’s problem is somewhat unique as it strives to revitalize the metaverse from which it takes its name. Since 2019, Meta has recorded his over $30 billion loss on this project. In 2022, the company reportedly lost six times as much as he did from the Metaverse. This is due to an attempt to entice the user to join.
Nonetheless, Zuckerberg says Meta will invest 20% of its revenue into the Metaverse each year going forward.
“There’s only one problem,” writes Karen Webster of PYMNTS. “Most people, like almost everyone, are unwilling to give up the physical world and live primarily through avatars in virtual worlds. of people want to use technology to improve how they interact with people and businesses in the physical world they live in today.”
