There's A 'New Economic Reality': Meta Continues Its Massive Layoffs As Over 10,000 Employees Are Forced Out

On Wednesday, Meta finished off its three-batch layoff, which is aimed at eliminating 10,000 roles within the tech company according to a source close to the matter.

Meta Platforms, the company that owns Facebook and Oculus, announced back in March its intentions to lay off the 10,000 roles, updating that earlier in May it would be doing its second batch of layoffs. This comes after the tech company made cuts of more than 11,000 employees in the fall. 

In the March announcement, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the layoffs during the second round would be done in three different “movements” over the course of several months, but that the layoffs would be concluded in May. That may not be all though, with Zuckerberg saying that smaller rounds of layoffs may continue if needed. 

"For most of our history, we saw rapid revenue growth year after year and had the resources to invest in many new products. But last year was a humbling wake-up call," the Meta CEO wrote in the announcement. "I think we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years."

The layoffs will reduce Meta’s expected 2023 expenses from the range of $86 billion to $92 billion, down from the original $89 billion to $95 billion.

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The effects of these layoffs have begun to be observed, with masses of past employees taking to LinkedIn to announce their termination, per Reuters. 

Employees from all types of teams within Meta were laid off, such as marketing, recruiting, engineering, and corporate communications. The cuts were said to be the harshest in non-engineering roles, emphasizing workers who are capable of writing code within the tech company. In his March pledge, Zuckerberg noted that the layoffs would work to restructure the business and return to a “more optimal ratio of engineers to other roles.” 

The layoffs from Meta follow the trend of other major tech companies, with over 340,000 workers in the tech field having been laid off since the start of 2022, according to tracking site Layoffs.fyi. 

The tides continue to shift within the technology industry as it rapidly grows and changes alongside the very tech it makes. With the further development of artificial intelligence, who knows if this will be the end of mass tech layoffs or simply the beginning of a larger trend.