Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta — the parent company behind the most popular social media platforms on the planet — has announced a series of layoffs across its biggest platforms, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs. The shake-up, first reported by The Verge, is part of the company’s efforts to streamline its teams.
A spokesperson for Meta told Reuters: “This includes moving some teams to different locations, and moving some employees to different roles. In situations like these when a role is eliminated, we work hard to find other opportunities for impacted employees.”
The exact number of job cuts being culled from teams at WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs — the outfit within Meta dedicated to Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) hardware and software — remains unspecified, sources indicate that these cuts are relatively small in scale.
The restructuring follows Meta’s ongoing cost-cutting measures, which have seen the company slash around 21,000 jobs since November 2022.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg heralded last year as the “Year of Efficiency” as part of Meta’s ongoing cost-cutting strategy. Shares in the Californian company have responded positively — jumping more than 60% this year.
The recent layoffs at Meta are part of a broader restructuring effort within the company. Some employees were given the choice between severance pay or a different role under a new contract, according to a former employee who spoke anonymously to TechCrunch.
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Whilst Meta hasn’t disclosed the exact number of affected employees, some have taken to social media to share their experiences. Among them is Jade Manchun Wong, a security researcher who joined Threads last year and was part of the 2022 Forbes 30 Under 30 list.
“Still trying to process this, but my role at Meta has been impacted,” Wong posted on X, formerly Twitter.
