LAST UPDATE | 14 Mar 2023
FACEBOOK’S PARENT COMPANY Meta is set to cut its global workforce by around 10,000, just months after laying off 11,000 employees.
In a post on Facebook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also confirmed 5,000 open roles will be left unfilled as part of a “Year of Efficiency”.
“Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired,” wrote Zuckerberg.
“This will be tough and there’s no way around that,” he added.
“It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success. We will support people in the same ways we have before and treat everyone with the gratitude they deserve.”
Zuckerberg said these layoffs will begin in late April, though he added that “timelines for international teams will look different”.
Zuckerberg said he was surprised with how many things “have gone faster” since laying off 11,000 people in November of last year.
Under the heading of ‘Leaner is Better’, he wrote: “A leaner org will execute its highest priorities faster.
“People will be more productive, and their work will be more fun and fulfilling.
“That’s why in our Year of Efficiency, we are focused on cancelling projects that are duplicative or lower priority and making every organization as lean as possible.”
While it’s not yet known how the move will affect Meta staff in Ireland, speaking today in New York, Tánaiste Micheál Martin said “we will do everything we possibly can to help workers” who may be laid off.
Micheal Martin on Meta job losses says ‘we must keep it in perspective’.
— Christina Finn (@christinafinn8) March 14, 2023
While any job loss is a huge blow to a worker and their families, he says indications are that employment went up significantly in the tech sector in Ireland over the last two years. @thejournal_ie pic.twitter.com/qjsAkXd66m
He added that job losses “must be kept in perspective”.
“Employment went up dramatically in the last two years in the technology sector, I think by 29,000,” said Martin.
“There’s been about 2,300 jobs lost in the current situation in the technology industry. So we have to keep that in perspective.”
Martin also said: “Every company we’ve met over the last two years, in the context of working with the IDA and Enterprise Ireland, have said labour shortages are a big issue.
“So we would like to think there is some capacity within the industry to absorb those who may lose their jobs, and we will work with Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and with Solas to make sure that alternative employment is found.”
The Tánaiste also said that some people who lose jobs “may now be in a position to start new companies in the technology sphere”.
“We did it many years ago with Motorola and other companies, where the entire workforce was re-employed almost and some of them developed new companies which are very strong today. And that’s the focus.”
Last week Rick Kelley, the head of Meta in Ireland, announced he was stepping down after less than a year in the job.
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