- Kyle Chua
Mark Zuckerberg Apologises, Takes Responsibility for Meta’s Mass Layoffs
Meta on Wednesday, 9 November announced plans to downsize by about 13%, laying off over 11,000 of the company’s 87,000 employees – a decision CEO Mark Zuckerberg is apologising and taking responsibility for.
"I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here," the tech executive wrote in a blog. "I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted."
He explains that he believed the rapid acceleration of e-commerce at the start of the pandemic, which supposedly resulted in "outsized revenue growth", would continue even after everything went back to normal, so he decided to "significantly increase" Meta's investments. That move, however, did not turn out well for the social media giant.
"Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected," explains Zuckerberg. "I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that."
The billionaire further claims that his goal for Meta now is to make it "more capital efficient" by shifting resources to priority areas, cutting costs across different business segments and restructuring teams. But he says these measures still wouldn't be enough to right the company's course, so he had to fall back on what he views as a "last resort", which is to let staff go.
As part of the changes, Zuckerberg says there'll be a "meaningful cultural shift" in how Meta will operate moving forward. For instance, the company plans to reduce its real estate footprint by having staff who already spend most of their time outside the office share desks.
The hiring freeze will also extend through Q1 with only a small number of exceptions. This, according to Zuckerberg, would give him more control of Meta's cost structure in case the problems with the economy don't get better anytime soon.
"Fundamentally, we’re making all these changes for two reasons: our revenue outlook is lower than we expected at the beginning of this year, and we want to make sure we’re operating efficiently across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs," he notes.
As for those affected by the layoffs, Zuckerberg says they'll receive an email soon about their next moves. Meta promises to provide severance, health insurance for six months, career guidance and immigration support, if needed, among other support services. This applies to employees even outside the U.S.
"We made the decision to remove access to most Meta systems for people leaving today given the amount of access to sensitive information," he adds. "But we’re keeping email addresses active throughout the day so everyone can say farewell."
Zuckerberg also notes that Meta is "deeply underestimated" as a company, considering how billions are using its services and the "huge potential" it has ahead. He claims he's confident that if the company works efficiently, it can come out of this downturn stronger than ever.
Meta has announced plans to downsize by about 13%, laying off over 11,000 of the company’s 87,000 employees – a decision CEO Mark Zuckerberg is apologising and taking responsibility for.
"I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted," the tech executive writes in a blog.
As part of the changes, he says there'll be a "meaningful cultural shift" in how Meta will operate moving forward.
He also notes that the hiring freeze will extend through Q1 with only a small number of exceptions.