Facebook, Instagram parent Meta cuts 11,000 jobs

Meta, the parent company of social media giants Instagram and Facebook, has announced it will cut 11,000 jobs, or 13 percent of its workforce, in a bid to slash costs.

In a letter to employees, founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company will also be cutting discretionary spending and extending its hiring freeze through Q1 to become “a leaner and more efficient company”.

The news comes a week after Twitter began cutting thousands of jobs in a move it said aimed to “place Twitter on a healthy path” following its takeover by Elon Musk which concluded last month.

Like other tech and ecommerce companies, shares in Meta surged during the pandemic as people worked and shopped online more than ever.

But that trend changed as economies reopened following the end of international lockdowns.

Zuckerberg said: “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.”

To make matters worse for Meta, many investors have been spooked by Zuckerberg’s ongoing efforts to reposition the business with a heavy focus on the Metaverse.

Zuckerberg also said Wednesday that Meta would be cutting costs by scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking its real estate footprint.

He said the company will shift its resources to a smaller number of “high priority growth areas”, like its AI discovery engine, ads and business platforms, and its “long-term vision for the metaverse”.