Facebook owner Meta lays off 11,000 employees

facebook parent meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a letter to employees on November 9 that it is laying off 11,000 people, about 13% of its workforce, as it grapples with faltering revenue and the woes of the wider tech industry.

the step that comes a week later Widespread layoffs on Twitter under its new owner, Billionaire Elon Musk,

Like other social media companies, Meta too enjoyed financial growth during the pandemic lockdown era as more people stayed home and scrolled on their phones and computers. But as soon as the lockdown ended and people started moving out again, revenue growth faltered.

An economic downturn and a grim outlook for online advertising – Meta’s biggest revenue source by far – have contributed to Meta’s woes. This summer, Meta reported its first quarterly revenue decline in history, followed by another major drop in the fall.

Some pains are company-specific, while some are linked to macroeconomic and technological forces.

Last week, Twitter laid off nearly half of its 7,500 employees, part of a chaotic overhaul when Musk took over. He tweeted that there was no option but to cut jobs, “when the company is losing more than $4M/day,” though did not give details about the loss.

Read also | Meta shareholder wants Facebook parent to cut jobs, spending

Meta has worried investors by making more than $10 billion a year.metaverse“Because it shifts its focus away from social media. CEO Mark Zuckerberg predicts that the metaverse, an immersive digital universe, will eventually replace smartphones as the primary way people use technology.

Meta and its advertisers are facing a potential slowdown. There’s also the challenge of Apple’s privacy tools, which make it more difficult for social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram and Snap to track people without their consent and target ads to them.

competition with tiktok It’s also a growing threat as young people flock to the video-sharing app Instagram, which Meta also owns.