Meta to Lay Off Employees in Multiple Rounds as Company Seeks Greater Efficiency
Shares of Meta Platforms (META) saw a 1.5% increase in after-hours trading on Friday following reports that the company is planning to cut jobs over the next few months. According to the Wall Street Journal, the upcoming job cuts will be of a similar magnitude to those carried out in the previous year.
The job cuts are expected to be implemented in multiple rounds, and Meta could potentially eliminate as many positions as it did in 2022, which accounted for approximately 13% of the company’s workforce. Although the exact number of job cuts has yet to be determined, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has stated that 2023 will be a “year of efficiency” for the company.
It is anticipated that the non-engineering roles within Meta will be most impacted by the job cuts. Some employees who will be affected by these measures could be notified as early as next week. The Wall Street Journal has indicated that Meta’s Reality Labs division, responsible for producing virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, is expected to shut down projects, including some wearable devices.
During the Morgan Stanley 2023 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference on Thursday, Meta’s Chief Financial Officer Susan Li spoke about the company’s plans to optimize its resources. She stated, “We’re continuing to look across the company, across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs, and really evaluate are we deploying our resources toward the highest leverage opportunities. This is going to result in us making some tough decisions to wind down projects in some places, to shift resources away from some teams.”
Since the start of the year, Meta shares have risen by nearly 50%. Despite the positive performance, the company appears to be focused on increasing efficiency and streamlining its operations. The upcoming job cuts are expected to be a significant aspect of this effort.
Meta’s decision to lay off employees in the coming months is likely to have a significant impact on its operations. As the company seeks to increase efficiency and optimize its resources, employees in non-engineering roles may find themselves particularly affected. Nonetheless, the company’s strong share performance thus far in 2023 suggests that investors remain confident in its long-term prospects.
