Layoffs across several teams were recently revealed by Meta as part of a larger plan to reallocate resources and align with its long-term objectives. A corporate spokeswoman clarified in a statement that these adjustments include moving some teams to new sites and repurposing staff members. Meta stressed its attempts to create other alternatives within the company for people whose positions were removed.
The Verge claims that workers in important departments, including Reality Labs, Instagram, and WhatsApp, were most impacted by the layoffs. Jane Manchun Wong, a software engineer renowned for discovering unpublished functionality in Meta applications, was one well-known layoff. Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri and CTO Andrew Bosworth were among the Meta executives that praised Wong’s 2023 decision to join the platform.
Additionally, staff members from design, legal operations, recruiting, and Facebook posted about their layoff experiences on social media. Some former workers said they were offered new positions or severance benefits; however, Meta did not specify the precise number of impacted individuals or the departments in question. Six weeks of money were usually included in severance agreements, according to sources. Many workers decided to accept the severance pay, and some received video calls informing them of their employment status.
Meta explained that several departments, including Threads, recruiting, and legal operations, were not included in the reorganization, despite the broad effects. According to the Financial Times, several workers were fired for using their $25 lunch vouchers to buy non-food items.
Following extensive hiring during the pandemic, Meta is continuing to optimise operations with these layoffs. About 11,000 workers, or 13% of the company’s employment, were let go in 2022. In 2023, there were an additional 10,000 layoffs, and 5,000 open positions were removed. The number of workers impacted by this most recent round has not been disclosed by Meta.