Pink slip day for thousands of Meta employees

PALO ALTO -- While they knew about it for months, a new round of layoffs became a reality Wednesday for tech workers at social media giant Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

In a series of layoffs targeting technology staffers this month and business unit workers in the upcoming months, the tech giant will cut some 10,000 positions.

In an internal memo obtained by The Washington Post, Meta's head of human resources, Lori Goler, wrote Tuesday evening that the company will begin notifying employees on its technical teams whose jobs are being cut.   

In March, Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg said the current economic environment was forcing his company to rethink its business structure.

"We expect to announce restructurings and layoffs in our tech groups in late April, and then our business groups in late May," he said. In a "small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes."

"Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven't yet hired," Zuckerberg said.

Teresa Jimenez, the Business Program Manager at Facebook, posted in LinkedIn that she was among those who got an email.

"I woke up this morning to the unfortunate news that I was one of the many laid-off from Meta today. While I am certainly disappointed, I'm also feeling extremely #grateful for the opportunity to have worked alongside some of the most talented individuals for almost 3 years!"

As of September 2022, Meta reported a headcount of 87,314, per a securities filings. With 11,000 job cuts announced in November and the 10,000 in the current round of cutbacks,  Meta's headcount will be reduced to around 66,000.

Wednesday's cuts will include tech teams working on Facebook, WhatsApp, Messenger, Instagram and the virtual-reality division Reality Labs among others.