Facebook parent Meta is slashing another 10,000 jobs and will not fill 5,000 open positions as the social media pioneer cuts costs.
The company said Tuesday it will reduce the size of its recruiting team and make further cuts in its tech groups in late April, and then its business groups in late May.
“This will be tough and there’s no way around that,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success.”
When contacted by CBC News, a representative for Meta said the company had no further comment. It is unclear whether the company’s Canadian operations will be impacted by layoffs.
Big tech focusing on efficiency over growth, says analyst
The Menlo Park, Calif., company has invested billions of dollars to realign its focus on the metaverse. In February it posted lower fourth-quarter profit and revenue, hurt by a downturn in the online advertising market and competition from rivals such as TikTok.
The company announced 11,000 job cuts in November.
Dan Ives, the managing director of investment firm Wedbush Securities in New York, said that Zuckerberg is pulling back on his metaverse strategy during a time when investors want to see cost-cutting.
“They don’t want to see companies spending like 1980s rock stars, which is what Meta’s ultimately done,” Ives said. He said that the shift in priorities is happening throughout the industry.
The “clock struck midnight, not just for Meta, but really for the rest of big tech. And I think that’s what we’re seeing across the board, as efficiency now is the number one word over growth,” he said.
“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,” said Zuckerberg.
In early trading, Meta shares rose six per cent on Tuesday.