Tech giant Meta is going to go for another round of mass layoffs by this week, says Vox quoting several sources working at the company. According to the report, layoffs are part of a broader restructuring at Meta that its Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mark Zuckerberg has dubbed the “year of efficiency”.
In March 2023, Mark Zuckerberg said the company would cut ten thousand jobs in the coming months, particularly ones related to “low priority projects”. This number is in addition to the 11,000 jobs that were cut by the tech giant in November last year.
This week’s layoffs could be in the range of 4,000 jobs, one source told Vox.
TechCrunch was unable to confirm the news, but it’s not unexpected.
Zuckerberg had previously said April cuts would affect roles in tech departments, while another round of layoffs planned for May will hit the business side.
According to a report published in Business Insider, some have speculated that many projects and teams within the Facebook app and Reality Labs, the unit dedicated to augmented and virtual reality experiences, will see the ax soon. However, those working on developing games might be safe for now as Meta works to market its metaverse gamble to traditional gamers.
That could be a strategic pivot for Meta and Zuckerberg, both of which have promoted the metaverse as a place for social interactions, work and e-commerce. Meta poured billions into its social VR platform Horizon Worlds. However, Horizon Worlds hasn’t really taken off, with only about 200,000 monthly active users at the end of last year.
Mark Zuckerberg upped his private jet spendings
Meanwhile, according to media reports, Meta paid CEO Mark Zuckerberg nearly US$2.3 million in 2022 for his personal private jet travel, up from prior years of the COVID-19 pandemic. That is higher than the roughly $1.6 million that Meta spent on such trips for him in 2021, and the roughly $1.8 million in 2020, according to the company’s 2023 proxy statement filed on April 14, 2023.
Overall, Meta spent more than US$27.1 million last year on what it called “all other compensation” for Zuckerberg, an amount that encompasses a range of security-related costs, according to the filing.
“Maintaining Mark’s safety while enabling him to go about his life with minimal disruption requires comprehensive and sophisticated resources”, a representative for Meta told Business Insider in a statement.
“Given the important role Mark plays at Meta, we have security measures in place for him that are in the best interest of the company”, the representative said.
Meta has said it covers Zuckerberg’s security expenses, including staff and certain security infrastructure costs at his homes.
Besides the personal private jet travel costs, Zuckerberg’s overall compensation figure last year also included some US$14.8 million for security at his homes and during his travels — a little less than the roughly US$15.2 million that Meta spent on that in 2021.
Zuckerberg’s overall compensation figures in recent years have also included a US$10 million pre-tax allowance for further measures to safeguard himself and his family, according to its 2023 proxy filing. In February, Meta bumped up that allowance to US$14 million.
On Meta’s decision of sacking thousands of its employees, people are leaving their comments on social media platforms. Here are some of the comments:
München: When Twitter showed they can keep lights on with 20% workforce, other social media companies are following suit.
Jim: “Year of Efficiency”? More like “Year of Holy Schnit We’re Hemorrhaging Gobs of Money”!
Eric: Mark Zuckerberg is old now. remember when he said young people are smarter? He’s not that anymore.
Cohen: Layoffs are good news as they are an excellent way for the Executive Team to award themselves with generous bonuses, stock options and other lavish perks for their good work. Shareholders are also giddy with glee when workers are fired and thrown out into the street, since the stock price gets a big pop and they can cash out and laugh all the way to the bank. Layoffs are a win-win all the way around!
Jazz: Have it give Zuck credit for jumping in the deep end of the VR pool. Most CEOs will be too scared to make that decision.
Look at Tim Cook, he’s too scared to do anything bold like Zuck did. Instead, he will give us a “new” iPhone every year, which is the same as last year’s phone and the year before, and the year before that.
Stephen: Does this mean that the “job creator” defense for billionaires is now officially invalid? Because I believe that Zuck and Meta should have to pay a HUGE tax penalty for putting so many people onto unemployment.
Ralph: I remembered in 1998 when the DOT com boom was happening, every new company that came out went from pennies to hundreds of dollars and in 2000, they all vanished. Today, this AI and ChatGPT is more dangerous than the Dot com bubble. Chat GPT is so dangerous that it must be regulated. If not, it will actually manipulate people’s minds, give false information and hurt people kids, wives and families. It is why Sundar Pichai and Elon Musk is warning us today.
Ralph: Just imagine this, META and so many companies went up 40% or 100% based on layoffs and speculating. How will this market end up? Today, Netflix missed on top and bottom line two quarters in a row and the stocks went up. UAL missed earnings and their stocks went up. I can count on over 50 stocks that missed earnings last quarter and their stocks went up. What does it say on Wall Street?
Duncan: Makes you wonder why extremely over hired Amazon still hasn’t do any major layoffs. Now amazon sits at 1.5 million hires, they hired more than 90% of workers after 2020, yet growth is in single digits and their stock struggling immensely. Andy got to go.
Catherine: ChatGPT or GPT-4 is behind this and it will wreck several social media platforms.
Mendy: Hope there are job openings at pizza shops, grocery stores, etc. for the displaced meta workers. Meta is starting to look a lot like a Betamax.
Peter: I wonder if he wishes he had that 400 million back used to corrupt our elections in 2020. My heart really breaks for him. Still Zuckerberg needs $400 million more dollars for democrats 2024.
Joseph: Meta is defaecating like spurious diarrhea. Corporate idealism is gone awry. Tim Cook is venturing into India due to huge market potential. Whatever, Mark Zucker went too far with stealing peoples’ identities. This is retribution.
Sean: Soon AI will take over many jobs in the tech sector.
