Meta initiated a fresh round of layoffs on Wednesday. Around 8,000 employees, or about 10% of the company, are impacted.

Multiple employees have posted about the job cuts on social media, while Business Insider obtained a letter Meta shared with its laid-off employees. Those who were let go will get 16 weeks of severance plus two weeks for every year they worked at Meta, minus a notice period. They'll also receive 18 months of COBRA health insurance for themselves and their families.

In a memo to staff, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he is "optimistic about everything we're building to give billions of people the power to express themselves and connect with the people they care about. I'm also optimistic about delivering personal superintelligence to everyone."

Meta is "transforming our company to make sure it will always be the best place for talented people to have the greatest impact," he added, before saying, "We do not expect other company-wide layoffs this year."

Original Story (4/24): Meta is preparing for yet another round of sweeping layoffs. According to an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg, it will lay off 10% of its global workforce on May 20.

As of late last year, Meta had approximately 79,000 employees, so a 10% layoff would push nearly 8,000 people out of jobs. Along with the fresh cuts, the company will also close 6,000 open positions, Meta’s chief people officer, Janelle Gale, wrote in the leaked memo.

Meta has already completed a round of layoffs this year, reportedly cutting hundreds of jobs from its Metaverse division in January. The latest layoffs arrive as the company continues to invest heavily in AI projects.

“We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making,” the memo says.

Meta has had a tough time keeping internal information confidential. Even this announcement was forced out early due to a leak, Gale added. “Normally, we would want to nail down more details before communicating about this broadly, but since this has leaked, I want to share what I can right now. I know this is unwelcome news and confirming this puts everyone in an uneasy state.”

The executive was probably referring to some recent Reuters reports. In March, the outlet reported that the company would lay off 20% of its staff, and this month followed up with another report confirming exactly what Gale mentioned in the memo: a 10% workforce reduction on May 20. Sources also told Reuters that more job cuts could arrive in the second half of the year.

Those being let go next month will receive a severance package that includes 16 weeks of pay, plus an additional two weeks for each year of employment.

Meta, meanwhile, is working on an AI clone for its CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, that will respond to employees in his absence. The company will also begin recording employees’ mouse and keyboard activity to train AI models that replicate human interactions with computers.

By: DocMemory
Copyright © 2023 CST, Inc. All Rights Reserved