Photo for illustrative purposes only. ARCHIVE

Meta is cutting off 13% of its workforce, or more than 11,000 people, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg's letter to his employees on Wednesday. In the letter, Zuckerberg stated, "Today I'm sharing some of the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history." "I've decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1," Zuckerberg added. Meta's shares were up roughly 7.7% Wednesday morning. The layoffs come at a difficult moment for Facebook's parent company Meta. Investors have been concerned about Meta's escalating costs and expenses, which increased 19% yearly to $22.1 billion in the third quarter. The company's overall sales declined 4% to $27.71 billion in the quarter, while its operating income dropped 46% from the previous year to $5.66 billion. "I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I'm especially sorry to those impacted." Zuckerberg said. He stated that Meta is making cuts across the organization but that recruiting would be disproportionately impacted since the business wants to hire fewer workers in 2023. "This is a sad moment, and there's no way around that. To those who are leaving, I want to thank you again for everything you've put into this place," he stated. Zuckerberg said that impacted employees would receive 16 weeks of pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service. Meta will cover health insurance for six months. Meta is significantly investing in the metaverse, a yet-to-be-created digital environment accessible via virtual reality and augmented reality headsets. This big gamble has already cost Meta $9.4 billion in 2022, and the business expects losses to "will grow significantly year-over-year." BKM/ Expat Media
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