Layoffs continue at Meta

As part of Meta's "Year of Efficiency" strategy, the company is laying off up to 6,000 employees in order to reduce costs and streamline its organization.

A long time ago, employees began to anticipate these layoffs. In a blog post published in March, Meta's founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced he planned to lay off 10,000 workers in two waves beginning in late April and continuing until late May. This comes after Meta already cut 11,000 positions in November.

The recent round of layoffs mainly targeted business roles, while the April layoffs impacted tech teams. Additionally, Meta halted recruitment for approximately 5,000 open positions. In total, around 21,000 individuals have lost their jobs at Meta since November, reducing the company's global workforce by approximately a quarter from its previous headcount of 87,000 employees. Zuckerberg acknowledged in his March blog post that the previous reduction in workforce resulted in unexpected benefits, with many projects progressing faster than anticipated.

However, with the latest round of layoffs, morale within Meta is understandably low. Employees have been anxiously awaiting news about their job security, and for some, losing their job also means losing healthcare coverage or work visas.

Despite the challenges faced internally, Meta remains committed to its vision for the metaverse. The company invested a staggering $13.7 billion last year in its Reality Labs department, focusing on the development of virtual and mixed reality experiences. While some investors have expressed skepticism regarding Zuckerberg's belief in the power of VR and mixed reality for social connection, he remains steadfast in his commitment.

During a recent earnings call, Zuckerberg emphasized that Meta is staying true to its focus on AI and the metaverse. AI plays a crucial role in Meta's AR and VR research, supporting content moderation, algorithmic social feeds, and other key aspects of the company's technology. Furthermore, Meta has recently unveiled its own generative AI coding tool and an advertiser tool called AI Sandbox. Looking ahead, Meta is working on custom chips and a supercomputer to bolster its large-scale AI research, positioning itself to compete with industry giants like Microsoft and Google, who already have similar infrastructure in place.

If Meta follows through with its plans, this current round of mass layoffs should be the last for the foreseeable future. For the remaining employees, hopefully, stability and job security will prevail in the coming months. As of now, Meta has not responded to requests for comment.