Meta, the company behind Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Oculus VR, has shed 13% of its team, a number that equates to more than 11,000 employees. Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared the news in a solemn message to Meta workers today, describing the decision as “difficult” and how he wants to take accountability for the decisions that led the company to its current state, which includes spending $15 billion trying to build the metaverse—something that has been envisioned by some as the future of the internet, centering around virtual reality. It was just last month that Meta introduced the Meta Quest Pro, a new all-in-one VR headset that costs $1,499.99.
Zuckerberg is offering the following to those who have been terminated:
- Severance. We will pay 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap.
- PTO. We’ll pay for all remaining PTO time.
- RSU vesting. Everyone impacted will receive their November 15, 2022 vesting.
- Health insurance. We’ll cover the cost of healthcare for people and their families for six months.
- Career services. We’ll provide three months of career support with an external vendor, including early access to unpublished job leads.
- Immigration support. I know this is especially difficult if you’re here on a visa. There’s a notice period before termination and some visa grace periods, which means everyone will have time to make plans and work through their immigration status. We have dedicated immigration specialists to help guide you based on what you and your family need.
From the Meta newsroom:
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% 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 believe we are deeply underestimated as a company today. Billions of people use our services to connect, and our communities keep growing. Our core business is among the most profitable ever built with huge potential ahead. And we’re leading in developing the technology to define the future of social connection and the next computing platform. We do historically important work. I’m confident that if we work efficiently, we’ll come out of this downturn stronger and more resilient than ever.
Discussion (18 replies)
Join Discussion →Translation: I'm Running a publicly traded company and the stock holders demand growth in profit every quarter no matter how much money we make. This sucks... so I'm going to do layoffs to appease the stock holders and get rid of a lot of people. Some great.. but in turn I'm giving them a 4 month effective paid vacation even if they land another job tomorrow.
So if they let go of someone that had been with the company for say 14 years (doubtful). 44 weeks paid in severance. Not bad.
Those are pretty generous terms. Cobra itself can be thousands per month on top of the severance pay.
Those are some nice packages. I bet a very very large percentage of those let go will find themselves re-employed and temporarily earning double pay before the severance runs out.
All of that said, I think the U.S. government should be actively trying to kill silicon valley, unless they permanently and irreversibly stop collecting and using personal data.
Any company that benefits from the use of data that doesn't originate with them deserves to go under.
The times I have had severance it was paid as a lump sum on my last check or a week later. Functionally the same though as long as ppl save accordingly.
Oh and full discloser - I work for a Silicon Valley based Company. Nothing to do with Google or Facebook though.
I briefly did some movie grip work when I was much, much, younger and pretty much the same. All the veterans always explained there were 'seasons' of work and the checks could be nice but the trick was to manage your spending in between the projects. I wasn't really into unstable income so it didn't really last.
Same here, I didn't mean literally receiving a biweekly check for the period, but who knows, with some of the lengths of time we are talking here, it might actually make sense for them to do it that way.
It's cheaper to pay someone biweekly for 44 weeks, than all in one lump sum. You have to stretch those accounts payable :p
I'm betting there was so much fat at meta/facebook that did nothing for the company. Trimming it was a good thing. Musk kind of opened the door to do that.
And Meta's stock has been on a fire sale lately.
Who do you think ends up with all that data?
Well.......
I do Accounting and Payroll for a living. I get what your saying about the liability and expense accounts for payroll, however in terms of entering, processing, monitoring and reacting to issues (failed deposits etc) the 1 time payment is cheaper and easier.
Fair enough. I was simply thinking from a "optimizing accounts payable" perspective, but maybe I have spent too much time in startups at this point :p
I am sure there are situations where it might make more sense. Heavens knows I have heard so many 'unique' stories from our payroll customers about why they want to do 'X.'
-edit-
Oh and I think by company policy since I have brought up my work I need to clearly state I work for Intuit and my thoughts and oppinions are my own.
You can also lay off your payroll person after they cut those one-time checks. It's a bit harsher on the cash flow though, as those checks are all gonna clear at the same time.
(Sorry Elf-boy, hope you don't work for Meta)
So they have about 100k meta employees.... , but, thats the whole company right? , not just vr I take it? I would ask doing what? But im sure most are all about ads and sales.
If meta is certain the meta verse is where all the money is going to be, they should also cut costs by moving all their employees to work from home, assign them all VR helmets, and then sell all the office real estate.