At Meta, internal chatter about layoffs is reportedly growing.
According to Business Insider, Meta managers are warning teams that layoffs won’t spare even the highest performers. “Zuck's message was loud and clear: You have three months to prove your worth, put in 200 percent effort, or you can resign now if you don't like it,” an anonymous worker told the publication.
However, the ultimate scope of layoffs isn’t clear, with internal guesses ranging from 10 percent to more than 20 percent within the next few months. Some teams also face the prospect of reorganization and manager transfers.
This isn’t the first rumbling of potential cutbacks at Meta. Back in September, The Wall Street Journal reported about the company’s attempts to cut costs by 10 percent, including staff reductions. Those workers cut from reorganized teams would have “a limited window to apply for other roles within the company,” the Journal added at the time—allowing Meta to reduce overall headcount without engaging in formal layoffs.
If the Business Insider report is correct, Meta now plans on escalating from quiet layoffs and attrition to full-on layoffs. If that scenario comes to pass, it won’t be the only tech giant cutting staff, especially in social media: in September, Snap laid off 20 percent of its workforce as part of an aggressive cost-cutting strategy.
Meta faces a handful of aggressive challenges in the years ahead. Apple’s new iOS privacy controls have limited the company’s ability to effectively monetize user data, reducing its income by billions. In addition, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s dedication to growing the “metaverse”—an ecosystem of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) apps—will continue to cost the company billions well into the future. And if that wasn’t enough, up-and-coming social networks such as TikTok will continue to challenge Meta’s core business.
To navigate these challenges (and eventually make a profit from the metaverse), Meta will need incredibly skilled, highly specialized technology professionals. Ultimately, the company can’t cut its way to growth—it will need to hire.
