This past Wednesday(11/9/22) Facebook and Instagram owner Meta has announced that 11,000 people are to lose their jobs. This equates to 13% of their total workforce. The layoffs are being made as part of a wider plan to re-focus the business.
The employees that were affected were informed about the loss of their job via email. Some employees reported knowing what was about to happen because they were unable to gain access to the company systems. This is to prevent them from still having access to potentially sensitive information.
It is unclear where the staff who are affected are based. Staff at the European headquarters in Ireland need to go through a consultation process before any redundancies can go ahead. In the US, workers will be paid 16 weeks’ wages as compensation, along with a further 2 weeks for every year they have worked for the company. This package will also be offered to employees in other countries where different arrangements do not apply.
In an email to all staff, Mark Zuckerberg told his employees that he took responsibility for the wrong decisions he had made which have led to Meta having to make these job cuts.
