Meta cutting 10,000 workers, second mass layoff in months

Just months after laying off more than 11,000 employees, Meta Platforms (Meta) confirmed that it’s trimming its headcount even further.

In a message to staff on March 14, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the social media giant is planning to eliminate approximately 10,000 jobs and “close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired.”

“We will let recruiting team members know [March 15] whether they’re impacted,” Zuckerberg said. “We expect to announce restructurings and layoffs in our tech groups in late April, and then our business groups in late May.”

The parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp added that its timelines for international teams will look different. Local leaders will provide affected staff with more details.

The fresh round of job cuts comes after Zuckerberg claimed that 2023 was going to be the company’s “Year of Efficiency.”

“As I’ve talked about efficiency this year, I’ve said that part of our work will involve removing jobs — and that will be in service of both building a leaner, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long term vision.”

According to news outlets, including Reuters, Meta employed a global workforce of more than 86,000 people at the end of 2022.

Impact on Canadian staff

Meta didn’t disclose how many Canadian employees are affected by the latest round of cuts.

During the tech giant’s mass layoff in November, several staff members shared on social media that they had been let go.

According to LinkedIn, the company has more than 1,000 workers in Canada.

Major tech layoffs continue

Meta joins the growing list of major North American tech companies that have announced sweeping layoffs to kick off 2023.

Several big names, including Alphabet, Dell, Clearco, Hootsuite, Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce, are significantly scaling back their staffing levels as they continue to navigate challenging economic conditions.

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• VerticalScope cutting 22% of staff amid economic uncertainty
• Employment lawyer on recent tech layoffs and severance
• Layoffs in Canada

Termination agreements for Meta employees

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.