Mark Zuckerberg has announced that Meta will be axing over 11,000 employees, reducing the overall headcount by roughly 13 per cent.
In a letter to staff, Zuckerberg took responsibility for the downsizing, and apologised for the actions that lead to the company’s stark downfall.
Calling it “some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history”, Zuckerberg also cut discretionary spending and extended the hiring freeze into the first quarter of 2023.
“I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted,” he wrote.
Zuckerberg said that the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth, which he misinterpreted.
“Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments.
“Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected. Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”
Meta will also be scaling back budgets, restructuring team, reducing perks, and shrinking real estate footprint, as they try to claw back some of the losses, which has seen stock dive 71 per cent this year alone.
This is the first staff reduction in the company’s 18-year history.
