Facebook parent meta cuts 11,000 jobs, 13% of workforce
New York, Nov 9: Facebook parent Meta is laying off 11,000 people, about 13% of its workforce, as it contends with faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter to employees Wednesday.
The job cuts come just a week after widespread layoffs at Twitter under its new owner, billionaire Elon Musk.
There have been numerous job cuts at other tech companies that hired rapidly during the pandemic.
Zuckerberg as well said that he had made the decision to hire aggressively, anticipating rapid growth even after the pandemic ended.
"Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected," Zuckerberg said in a prepared statement.
"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."
Meta, like other social media companies, enjoyed a financial boost during the pandemic lockdown era because more people stayed home and scrolled on their phones and computers.
But as the lockdowns ended and people started going outside again, revenue growth began to falter.
An economic slowdown and a grim outlook for online advertising by far Meta's biggest revenue source have contributed to Meta's woes.
This summer, Meta posted its first quarterly revenue decline in history, followed by another, bigger decline in the fall.
Some of the pain is company-specific, while some is tied to broader economic and technological forces.
Last week, Twitter laid off about half of its 7,500 employees, part of a chaotic overhaul as Musk took the helm.
He tweeted that there was no choice but to cut the jobs "when the company is losing over
4M/day," though did not provide details about the losses.
Meta has worried investors by pouring over
10 billion a year into the "metaverse" as it shifts its focus away from social media.
Zuckerberg predicts the metaverse, an immersive digital universe, will eventually replace smartphones as the primary way people use technology.
Meta and its advertisers are bracing for a potential recession.
There's also the challenge of Apple's privacy tools, which make it more difficult for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snap to track people without their consent and target ads to them.
Competition from TikTok is also a growing threat as younger people flock to the video sharing app over Instagram, which Meta also owns.
"We've cut costs across our business, including scaling back budgets, reducing perks, and shrinking our real estate footprint," Zuckerberg said.
"We're restructuring teams to increase our efficiency. But these measures alone won't bring our expenses in line with our revenue growth, so I've also made the hard decision to let people go."
Zuckerberg told employees Wednesday that they will receive an email letting them know if they are among those being let go. Access to most company systems will be cut off for people losing their jobs, he said, due to the sensitive nature of that information.
"We're keeping email addresses active throughout the day so everyone can say farewell," Zuckerberg said.
Former employees will receive 16 weeks of base pay, plus two additional weeks for every year with the company, Zuckerberg said.
Health insurance for those employees and their families will continue for six months.
Shares of Meta Platforms Inc. jumped 4% before the opening bell Wednesday.
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Delegation requests for Karnataka HC Bench in coastal districts, hands petition to Chief Justice
Udupi: A delegation of the High Court Bench Struggle Committee met and submitted a petition to the Karnataka High Court Chief Justice Vibhu Bakhru at the Circuit House urging the opening of a High Court Bench in the coastal belt as well as a Mobile High Court Bench in Mangaluru.
MLC and convener of the Committee Ivan D’Souza, who spoke to the Chief Justice on the occasion, explained that the people of the coastal belt find it difficult to travel to Bengaluru to fight a petition in the High Court. The problem only aggravated during monsoon. D’Souza added that there was a delay in clearing the cases of Udupi, Chikkamagaluru and Kodagu districts, which was causing further inconvenience to the people.
The MLC, who pointed out that Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had also shown his preference for establishing a High Court Bench in the coastal region, requested for an approval to establish a Mobile High Court Bench first.
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Responding to this request, Chief Justice Bakhru assured to take action on the request as soon as possible.
The delegation included Mangalore Bar Association President Raghavendra HV, Dakshina Kannada Principal Government Pleader MP Noronha, General Secretary Sridhar H, Udupi Bar Association President Reynold Praveen Kumar, General Secretary Chandrashekhar Shetty, Vice-president Devadas V Shettigar and Brahmavar Bar Association President Kadoor Praveen Shetty.
