Fired Meta employees expressed shock and disappointment Wednesday after learning they were caught in Mark Zuckerberg’s bloodbath – with some grumbling in regards to the fact they learned they’d been laid off by email.
Earlier Wednesday, Zuckerberg revealed that Meta had fired greater than 11,000 employees, or about 13% of its workforce, because it contends with a serious downturn in its business.
“Just woke up to search out out I had been laid off by Meta/Instagram from an email,” said Carlos Giffoni, who worked as a product manager for Instagram, in accordance with his LinkedIn account.
“No warning, and was told recently by a lead the team I worked on was high priority and wouldn’t be affected. Company wide layoffs via email. Classy. I suppose I actually have loads of time for writing now,” Giffoni added.
Meta slashed 13% of its workforce.Bloomberg via Getty Images
Madison Strickland, a recruiter for Meta’s machine learning team, revealed she was laid off despite being eight months pregnant.
“Unfortunately, I’m a part of 11,000 employees at Meta that were laid off this morning. I never thought I’d find myself on this position especially 2 weeks before my maternity leave,” Strickland wrote.
Just woke up to search out out I had been laid off by Meta/Instagram from an email. No warning, and was told recently by a lead the team I worked on was high priority and wouldn’t be affected. Company wide layoffs via email. Classy. I suppose I actually have loads of time for writing now.
— Carlos Giffoni (@carlosgiffoni) November 9, 2022
The layoffs were probably the most extensive reduction of headcount in Meta’s history. Zuckerberg apologized to employees and admitted that he had underestimated how much revenue would plunge attributable to “the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss.”
Meta’s billionaire boss said employees across the corporate’s “family of apps” similar to Instagram and WhatsApp were impacted, with recruiters “disproportionately affected” by the cuts.
Nathan Magner, a technical recruiter for design talent at Meta, also decried the corporate’s method for breaking the news.
“#Layoffs suck. Checking out you bought laid off via e-mail sucks. I’m among the many 11,000 those who were laid off from Meta early this morning,” Magner wrote on LinkedIn.
Meta said the companywide cuts impacted employees across its family of apps.PA Images via Getty Images
Eric Triebe, a software engineering manager at Meta, said he “seems like I’m in an episode of Severance” attributable to the abrupt virtual exit.
“No meeting with HR. No good byes to co-workers. Seemingly no contact was made or discussion from leadership with my manager of skip when it comes to justification. Just a chilly, impersonal email after which the plug is pulled before you get up,” Triebe said.
One other ousted recruiter, Brianna Sgro, said she was “hurt” by the corporate’s decision but would miss the experience of working at Meta.
“I’m sad, hurt, uncertain, disenchanted, and now jobless.,” Sgro wrote.
“Although all of these items come to an end today, I’m so thankful to experience them,” she added.
Mark Zuckerberg has faced pressure over the corporate’s spending on the metaverse.Getty Images
The Post has reached out to Meta for comment.
The job cuts have raised anxieties about Meta’s remaining employees who fear what’s next on the struggling tech giant.
“I believe everyone seems to be nervous about it. You never know, right?” one worker who recently joined the corporate told The Post.
“The one thing we all know is on the web,” said one other worker.
“We didn’t see another colleagues today on our team. They’re working from home. It’s natural that individuals are nervous,” added his colleague.
Meta’s stock is down 70% this yr.Getty Images
Meta’s layoffs followed similar cuts at Twitter, Lyft and various other tech firms. Meta’s stock has plunged greater than 70% this yr as its troubled, expensive shift toward metaverse technology rattles investors.
Twitter also faced criticism last week for the way in which it conducted layoffs.
Zuckerberg said the layoffs can be part of in depth cost-cutting measures, including the implementation of desk-sharing for some employees and cuts to discretionary spending.
“I view layoffs as a final resort, so we decided to rein in other sources of cost before letting teammates go. Overall, it will add as much as a meaningful cultural shift in how we operate,” Zuckerberg added.
