Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has cut 11,000 jobs

Facebook’s parent company Meta announced Wednesday the loss of 11,000 jobs, or about 13% of its workforce, in a large-scale social plan in a technology sector hit hard by the financial crisis.

“Today, I’m sharing some of the hardest changes we’ve made in Meta’s history,” group boss Mark Zuckerberg announced in a message to employees. “I have decided to reduce the size of our team by approximately 13% and part ways with 11,000 of our talented employees.”

Wednesday’s announcement was the first social plan in the group’s history.

“I want to take responsibility for those decisions and how we got here. I know it’s hard for everyone and I’m especially sorry for those affected,” Zuckerberg added.

Meta, which had 87,000 employees worldwide as of the end of September, reported a disappointing financial performance in the third quarter, with a sharp decline in revenue and profits and stagnant user numbers.

Mr Zuckerberg has announced that the group’s workforce will shrink by the end of 2023.

Meta did not immediately specify the geographic distribution of the job cuts.

Fired employees in the United States receive 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks of pay for each year of service. The company covers their health insurance for 6 months.

The layoffs at Meta, which also owns social network Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp, are part of a wider context of mass exits in the tech sector.

Last week, two Silicon Valley companies, Stripe and Lyft, announced massive layoffs as Amazon froze office hiring.

Recently acquired by Elon Musk, Twitter has laid off half of its 7,500 employees.

On Wall Street, Meta’s announcement was widely anticipated, with the group’s stock up just 4% in early electronic trading.