The fate of Meta’s African team remains uncertain as the firm on Wednesday announced that it has laid off 11,000 workers.
This follows Twitter’s Friday layoff of 3,700 employees, which accounted for 13% of its 87,000 global employees. The majority of Twitter’s African team was laid off, despite having just physically resumed work at the company’s Ghana-based Africa office.
Although it is still unknown how Meta’s staff reduction will affect its African team, the Family of Apps and Reality Labs in every organization will be impacted, according to a message from Meta’s Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg.
He said, “There is no good way to do a layoff, but we hope to get all the relevant information to you as quickly as possible and then do whatever we can to support you through this.
“Everyone will get an email soon letting you know what this layoff means for you. After that, every affected employee will have the opportunity to speak with someone to get their questions answered and join information sessions.”
Meta’s third-quarter revenue fell 4% year on year to $27.7 billion, while net income fell from $9.19 billion to $4.39 billion. The company’s market cap has dropped from $1 trillion in the midst of the pandemic to $250 billion.
According to him, this will have an impact on the firm’s recruitment plans, as it planned to hire fewer people next year.
While announcing the layoff, Zuckerberg said, “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 per cent 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.
“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.” he added.