Meta, the parent company of Facebook, has announced another round of layoffs, targeting its business groups. The move comes as part of the company’s ongoing efforts to streamline operations and improve efficiency. While Meta has not officially confirmed the extent of the layoffs, social media posts from impacted employees have shed light on the situation.

Employees in various departments, including operations, project management, marketing, policy, communications, and risk analytics, took to platforms like LinkedIn to announce their layoffs. The latest job cuts in the business groups follow a series of reductions that Meta had previously announced. CEO Mark Zuckerberg had revealed in a blog post back in March that the company planned to eliminate 10,000 jobs this year, with notifications to affected business group members expected to take place in May.

This round of layoffs represents the final major phase of Meta’s workforce reduction strategy. In November, the company had announced the elimination of approximately 11,000 jobs, which accounted for around 13% of its total workforce. This marked the largest round of cuts in the company’s history. With the recent layoffs and those from November, Meta’s employee count is estimated to shrink to around 66,000, reflecting a reduction of approximately 25% if no further hiring takes place.

The decision to cut jobs in the business groups is part of Meta’s broader initiative to enhance efficiency and overcome challenges such as revenue declines, increased competition, concerns about user growth, and losses in its Reality Labs division. The company has been actively focusing on developing the metaverse as a key strategy for the future. While Meta recently reported a positive development with a 3% year-over-year increase in revenue for the first quarter of 2023, reversing a trend of three consecutive quarters of revenue declines, it also experienced a decline of nearly a quarter in profits compared to the same period the previous year. Additionally, the price per advertisement, an essential metric for the health of Meta’s core digital ad business, decreased by 17% compared to the previous year.

During an earnings call, Zuckerberg expressed confidence that Meta’s “efficiency work” was being carried out from a position of strength, given the improved business performance. However, the layoffs have undoubtedly had an impact on the affected employees. One employee, sharing their experience on LinkedIn, described the layoffs as a “shock to the system” and emphasized the difficulty of finding new meaningful work and supportive colleagues.

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As Meta continues to navigate the evolving landscape of social media and the metaverse, the repercussions of these layoffs will be closely observed. The company aims to position itself for future growth and innovation while acknowledging the challenges and impact on its workforce during this transitional period.

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