Meta, the parent company of Facebook, cuts 11,000 jobs

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, announced Wednesday the loss of 11,000 jobs, or about 13% of its workforce, a large-scale social plan in a technology sector severely affected by the economic crisis.

“Today, I am sharing some of the most difficult changes we have made in the history of Meta,” group president Mark Zuckerberg announced in a letter to employees. “I have decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and in other ways with our 11,000 talented employees.”

Wednesday’s announcement is the first social plan in the group’s history.

“I want to take responsibility for those decisions and how we got here. I know it’s hard for everyone and I’m especially sorry for those affected.”

Meta, which had about 87,000 employees worldwide at the end of September, reported a disappointing financial performance in the third quarter with a sharp decline in revenue and profits and a stagnant number of its users.

Zuckerberg then announced that the group’s workforce could decline by the end of 2023.

Meta does not immediately determine the geographic distribution of job cuts.

Employees who are terminated in the United States will receive 16 weeks of base pay and an additional two weeks of pay for each year of service. The company will cover their health insurance for 6 months.

The layoffs at Meta, which also owns social network Instagram and messaging service WhatsApp, are part of a broader context of massive departures in the tech sector.

Last week, two Silicon Valley companies, Stripe and Lyft, announced massive layoffs as Amazon freezes office hiring.

Twitter, which was recently acquired by Elon Musk, has fired about half of its 7,500 employees.

On Wall Street, where the Meta announcement was widely expected, the group’s stock rose just over 4% in pre-open electronic trading.