Meta is reducing its workforce size by nearly 13 percent and parting ways with thousands of employees in the first mass layoffs in the company's history. In the announcement made by Mark Zuckerberg, it was stated that he was overly optimistic about the future growth of the company and this was a mistake. “With the onset of Covid, the world quickly went online and the rise in e-commerce led to enormous revenue growth,” Zuckerberg said. “Many people predicted that this would be a persistent acceleration that will continue even after the pandemic is over. That's what I did and I decided to significantly increase our investments. Unfortunately, it didn't turn out as I expected." He detailed his mistake by making a statement.

First large layoff since 2004

Zuckerberg states that the company will now become “leaner and more efficient” by reducing expenses and staff. It is also stated that resources will be focused on high priority areas such as ads, artificial intelligence and metaverse. Zuckerberg said the company's HR division would be disproportionately affected by the layoffs. Because the company completely froze new hires until the first quarter of 2023. Fewer people will be hired throughout the next year. Meta reported in September that it had approximately 87,000 employees. After the layoffs, more than 11,000 employees will part ways. It should also be noted that this is the first large-scale dismissal since the establishment of the company.

Meta states that employees will soon receive an e-mail about the layoffs, and severance pay will be given to those who are laid off. In addition, the health costs of affected employees and families will be covered for six months. It will also help dismissed employees find new jobs.Financial results were not as expected, the Reality Labs and metaverse project's continued loss, Meta's ad revenues plummeted due to Apple's new privacy rules, and competitors such as TikTok were skyrocketing, which has caused Meta's share prices to drop 70 percent this year. The company's share values, which lost $700 billion in market value, rose 4 percent after the announcement of the layoffs. The company states that it expects to lose "significantly" more in 2023.