SAN FRANCISCO: Meta Platforms Inc, the owner of Facebook and Instagram, is planning a fresh round of layoffs and will cut thousands of employees as soon as this week, according to people familiar with the matter.
The world’s largest social networking company is eliminating more jobs, on top of a 13% reduction in November, in a bid to become a more efficient organization. In its earlier round of cuts, Meta slashed 11,000 workers in what was its first-ever major layoff. The company has also been working to flatten its organization, giving buyout packages to managers and cutting whole teams it deems non-essential, Bloomberg News reported in February, a move that is still being finalized and could affect thousands of staffers.
The imminent round of cuts is being driven by financial targets and is separate from the “flattening,” said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing internal matters. Meta, which has seen a slowdown in advertising revenue and has shifted focus to a virtual-reality platform called the metaverse, has been asking directors and vice presidents to make lists of employees that can be let go, the people said. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the plans on Monday.
