Meta To Cut 10,000 Jobs, Slash 5,000 More Vacant Positions

Meta Platforms Inc. plans to lay off around 10,000 employees and close about 5,000 additional open roles in its second major round of job cuts in the past six months.

The Facebook parent company has been marketing 2023 as a “year of efficiency” in an effort to improve its financial performance and achieve longer-term goals. As part of those efforts, Meta is flattening the organization, canceling lower priority projects and slowing hiring, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said in a statement on Tuesday. Bloomberg previously reported that cuts were coming. The world’s largest social-networking company in November already laid off 11,000 people, or 13% of its staff.

The Facebook parent company lowered its outlook for 2023 expenses to $86 billion to $92 billion, accounting for the job reductions and other cost-cutting measures. That’s down from $89 billion to $95 billion previously, according to a company filing, and includes about $3 billion to $5 billion in restructuring costs including severance.

Meta employees had been bracing for more layoffs in recent weeks. Mark Zuckerberg has been outspoken about the need to better prioritize projects and investments and has hinted at additional job cuts. Meta began its flattening process earlier this year, eliminating some middle managers and asking others to return to individual contributor roles instead of overseeing other employees.

Even so, Mark Zuckerberg said “this update may still feel surprising.” Shares were up 5.3% at $190.45 at 11:20 a.m. in New York.