Meta, the parent company of Facebookis planning to lay off 13% of its staff – or more than 11,000 – in the largest round of layoffs in tech history, like Twitter pivoted its entire staff to Africa just days after opening an office in Ghana.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg revealed the news in a Letters sent employees on Wednesday, calling it “some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history.”
Zuckerberg Calls for an End to “Some of the Hardest Changes We’ve Made in Meta History”
“Today, I’m sharing some of the most challenging changes we’ve made in the history of Meta,” Zuckerberg said in the letter. “I have decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let our more than 11,000 talented employees go. We are also taking some additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending the hiring freeze through Q1.”
As of Wednesday morning, Meta’s stock is up about 7.7%, according to CBNC.
The news comes amid struggling Facebook parent company Meta, which has spooked investors after reporting its upcoming fourth-quarter earnings in late October, sending shares down nearly 20 percent. %.
Probably one of the biggest layoffs in tech history.
11,000 people were laid off by Meta today. It’s saddening.#layoffs #recession #meta #Facebook pic.twitter.com/Oshu2lhs6R
– Arpit Tripathi🇮🇳 (@arpitripathi_) November 9, 2022
Investors are concerned about Meta’s rising costs and expenses, which rose 19 percent year-on-year in the third quarter to $22.1 billion. Its revenue also fell 4% to $27.71 billion in the quarter with operating income plummeting 46% year-over-year to $5.66 billion.
“I want to take responsibility for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is difficult for everyone and I am especially sorry to those affected. ‘ said Zuckerberg.
Twitter experiences similar cuts, with offices in Africa closed after Musk’s acquisition
Meanwhile at Twitter, things were not much better, where the entire headquarters in Africa was given away unexpectedly.
CNN’s Larry Madowo reports that they received termination notices sent to employees at Twitter’s only office in Africa, located in Accra. The office just opened a few days ago.
The Outlet reports that “unlike in the US, (the termination letter) doesn’t set out next steps or severance.”
SCOOP – CNN received a termination notice sent to employees at Twitter’s only Africa office – in Accra
It was sent to their personal email but did not mention any of them by name. Unlike in the US, it doesn’t offer next steps or severance pic.twitter.com/R868moImlh
– Larry Madowo (@LarryMadowo) November 8, 2022
Musk previously eliminated most of the middle management at the company’s San Francisco headquarters, preferring to have more developers and fewer managers in his own words.
In the United States, Twitter employees filed a class-action lawsuit amid allegations that Twitter violated federal and California laws by not providing adequate notice before the incident, which affected about half of the force. company employees, CNBC report.
Twitter faces lawsuit from malfunctioning US employees, laying off all Japanese office staff
On Tuesday, he also expelled offices in Japan, according to Japan Times.
Japan happens to be the tech giant’s second-largest market, with the platform being used by government agencies with its official ability to convey messages to the public during natural disasters, and has doing so since the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.
Musk’s $4.4 billion purchase of the social media platform and his desire to charge subscription service Twitter Blue has shaken its user base with many balking at the idea. about the $8 surcharge for tweets.
