In a strategic move to streamline its operations and optimize its workforce, Facebook-owner Meta has initiated its latest round of layoffs, representing the final phase of a three-part plan announced in March.
The latest job cuts will eliminate 10,000 positions, mostly non-engineering roles like content design and user experience research.
Meta’s international headquarters in Dublin will bear a significant impact from the latest wave of cuts, with around 490 employees expected to be affected, representing nearly 20 percent of its Irish workforce.
Moreover, two prominent executives in India, Avinash Pant (Director of Marketing) and Saket Jha Saurabh (Director and Head of Media Partnerships) have also been let go.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has also hinted at smaller rounds of layoffs in the future, indicating the company’s ongoing efforts to optimize its operations.
Meta’s previous layoffs, which took place in the fall of 2022, resulted in the termination of over 11,000 employees and brought the company’s headcount back to mid-2021 levels.
Despite the massive reduction in workforce, Meta’s stock has more than doubled in value this year, positioning Meta as one of the standout performers in the prestigious S&P 500 index.
The rising stock value of Meta in 2023 can be attributed to the tech giant’s unwavering commitment to artificial intelligence and its strategic implementation of cost-cutting measures, reports said.
The decision to downsize the workforce comes in response to Meta’s months of slowing revenue growth, influenced by factors such as high inflation and a decline in digital advertising due to the contraction of the pandemic-driven e-commerce boom.
Meta has also been channeling substantial investments into its Reality Labs unit, focused on developing the metaverse and enhancing the infrastructure to support artificial intelligence endeavors. However, these investments incurred a loss of $13.7 billion for the Reality Labs unit in 2022.
(Inputs from various agencies)
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