Meta laying off more than 11,000 employees: Zuckerberg says ‘sorry’

Social media giant Meta has announced its first major headcount reduction in its history.

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp is laying off more than 11,000 employees, or 13 per cent of its workforce, as it grapples with slowing growth.

The cuts come after the The Wall Street Journal reported that the company is looking to cut costs by at least 10 per cent as 2022 winds down.

In mid-June, the company reportedly employed more than 83,000 people, which is up from 48,000 at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

According to a LinkedIn analysis obtained by The Globe and Mail, Meta has at least 1,100 staff members in Canada.

While the company’s Canadian office didn’t disclose how many employees are affected, a number of workers took to social media to share that they had been laid off.

Zuckerberg’s message to staff

“Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history,” CEO Mark Zuckerberg told workers in a message posted to Facebook on Nov. 9. “I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go.”

“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 for those impacted.”

Zuckerberg says the decision to cut jobs was made following a failed prediction that e-commerce growth would continue to be strong post-pandemic.

“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.”

What is being impacted

The cuts will affect the following areas within Meta:

• The “Family of Apps” – Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, WhatsApp
• Virtual reality business Reality Labs
• Meta’s business teams

Meta plans to hire fewer employees next year. The social media giant is also extending a hiring freeze into the first quarter of 2023, though some small exceptions will be made.

The layoffs at Meta are the latest in a long line of sweeping cuts that have taken place across the North American tech sector this year.

The company, and several other major companies, including Twitter, Hootsuite, Microsoft, Shopify, and Snap, have substantially reduced their workforces as they continue to monitor market conditions.

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• Intel plans thousands of layoffs for October amid PC plummet
• Employment lawyer on mass layoffs in the tech industry
• Layoffs in Canada

Termination agreements for Meta employees

As part of its layoff announcement, Meta said affected staff in the U.S. would receive 16 weeks of pay, along with two more weeks for each year at the company.

Three Canadian employees told The Globe on Nov. 9 that the social media giant revoked their accounts and services, and didn’t inform them about the terms of their severance package.

In Canada, non-unionized employees at Meta are owed full severance pay when they lose their jobs due to downsizing or corporate restructuring.

Severance can be as much as 24 months’ pay, depending on a number of factors.

LEARN MORE
• Severance for technology industry employees
• Severance for provincially regulated employees
• Severance packages in mass layoffs

WATCH: Employment lawyer Lior Samfiru explains what rights employees have if they are being fired or let go on an episode of the Employment Law Show.

Before you accept any severance offer, have an experienced employment lawyer at Samfiru Tumarkin LLP review it and your employment contract.

We can tell you if what you have been provided is fair and how to get proper severance if it falls short of what you are actually owed.

If you don’t receive the full amount, which happens often, you have been wrongfully dismissed and are entitled to compensation.