Meta has laid off around 10% of its staff this week. Notifications were reportedly sent in three waves at 4 a.m. local time on Wednesday. The layoffs are expected to eliminate around 8,000 roles. The company will offer U.S. employees a severance package including 16 weeks in base pay, as well as two weeks for every year of continuous employment.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressed his gratitude in a company-wide note to the laid off employees, writing that it’s “always sad to say goodbye” to those who have contributed to Meta.
“I feel the weight of that, and I’m spending a lot of time making sure we manage this as well as possible,” his memo, which was first posted by The New York Times, reads.
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Zuckerberg also responded to concerns that there will be further layoffs, saying in the note that he doesn’t expect any additional “company-wide” layoffs this year. However, it has been pointed out that this opens the door to more targeted cuts against specific parts of Meta, like its hardware division Reality Labs, which saw layoffs earlier this year. Meta’s HR chief had mentioned the possibility of further layoffs earlier.
Zuckerberg also mentioned AI in the note, saying the field was highly competitive, and that while Meta is well-positioned to do well, success is not guaranteed.
He also said that staff have been saying they appreciate taking more ownership and executing their vision “with less bureaucracy and management to navigate,” which is in line with Meta’s renewed focus on small teams and AI-native “pods.”
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“We’re transforming our company to make sure it will always be the best place for talented people to have the greatest impact. People tell us that they appreciate the ability to take greater ownership and execute their vision with less bureaucracy and management to navigate. At the same time, we also want to provide everyone with as much stability as possible. We won’t always get this balance right, but I care deeply about this so we’ll keep adjusting and work hard to do right by people along the way,” Zuckerberg said.
“Once again, I’m grateful to those leaving today. And I’m grateful to everyone around the company for all of the historic work we will continue doing together,” he added in the memo.