from the we-must-hit-our-arbitrary-targets dept.
Many more Meta workers may be clearing off their desks very soon. Early on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported that Meta plans to lay off "thousands" of employees, and the first round of staff cuts could be finalized as early as this week, based on anonymous sources familiar with the matter.
[...] The anonymous sources quoted by Bloomberg said this new round of cuts is being driven by declining advertising revenues while it refocuses, again, on its metaverse ambitions. This is an apparent effort to help the company hit certain financial targets for 2023. The company reportedly asked team directors and vice presidents across the company to make up a list of names for those who should get the cut.
[...] In addition to these supposed layoffs, there's a so-called "flattening" happening at the company's Menlo Park headquarters and beyond. Previous reports noted how Meta is putting pressure on middle managers of small teams to either get them to do more grunt work, or otherwise leave the company.
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A tough time for big tech workers continues:
Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced Tuesday in a written statement that the tech giant would lay off 10,000 more workers, adding to the 11,000 people it laid off back in November. Additionally, around 5,000 open roles that hadn't been filled yet will be closed. In other words, it's a hiring freeze on top of a large number of layoffs.
Zuckerberg acknowledged the cuts in a blog post updating Meta's "Year of Efficiency."
This will be tough and there's no way around that. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success. They've dedicated themselves to our mission and I'm personally grateful for all their efforts. We will support people in the same ways we have before and treat everyone with the gratitude they deserve.
Amid the layoffs, Meta has also announced that it is stepping away from NFTs to focus on other projects.
According to TechCrunch, Meta's employee head-count came in at around 76,000 after November's layoffs. In the aftermath of this week's job cuts, that would bring the count down to around 66,000.
This is, unfortunately, just part of a wider trend in the world of big tech. Other tech firms of varying sizes like Lyft, Groupon, Vimeo, and Microsoft have all laid off workers in the last year due to broader economic difficulties.
Previously: Meta Employees Brace for Layoffs Ahead of Zuckerberg's Paternity Leave
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 09 2023, @07:20AM
Is this a PR announcement of billionaire trivia attached to a grab-eyeballs headline? Just wondering if they're fucking with out heads yet.
(Score: 2) by Opportunist on Thursday March 09 2023, @08:05AM
So the metastasis really happened?
(Score: 2) by looorg on Thursday March 09 2023, @02:13PM (4 children)
How are the two connected? Did those thousands of people work with pampering Zuckerberg and are not then needed as he goes on paternity leave? Are they cutting all the Yes-men and Ego-strokers?
That he goes on Paternity leave in Euro-style is probably also a gigantic joke. He is not going to stay at home and take care of his offspring or be part of their early life to form a bond or what not. I'm sure he has nannies and staff for that like all the other rich twats. This seems like more of a PR move or that he can facebook post about what a good father he is etc. How he can pretend to be more human and less emotionless robotman.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Freeman on Thursday March 09 2023, @02:50PM (3 children)
That seems rather cold. Just, because someone has no heart when it comes to business. Doesn't mean they can't be a good father. While he may have a nanny or multiples thereof, tell me you wouldn't want to have one, if you could afford one. Trust me, my wife would have very much loved it, if we could have afforded a nanny. Certainly would have been nice to have been given a few weeks of paternity leave as a Father as well. As it was, I ended up only being able to take about a week or so off work. Then we were lucky enough to have some friends and grandparents nearby that were able to help out. Even then, my wife went stir-crazy. She already had troubles sleeping at night and a baby (which literally destroys sleep for the first year or so) just made things that much more difficult. Still, we all made it through and would definitely have done it again.
The headline is likely going for hey look, the Zuck is laying off bunches of people. While he gets to take paternity leave (unlike 90%+ of American fathers). They're literally just trying to cause tension, because bad news sells. Pretty much all you ever hear about on regular news outlets is, "here are the next 10 horrible things that happened in the world, also we found a cat picture/story, enjoy".
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 2) by hendrikboom on Thursday March 09 2023, @03:09PM (1 child)
A paid, or unpaid paternity leave?
If unpaid, Z effectively is laid off too for several months.
My guess, though, is that it's paid, even if only by proceeds from his stock in Facebook.
(Score: 2) by Freeman on Thursday March 09 2023, @03:59PM
Ah, the article says "takes his leave of absence", so it may be just taking non-paid time off. Still, he has so much money, it's just him taking a break. The decreased income of the few weeks or so, will have pretty much zero impact on his personal finances.
Joshua 1:9 "Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee"
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Thursday March 09 2023, @04:59PM
The article also says:
I wouldn't say this has anything to do with "trying to cause tension" if Meta is the one selling the bad news.