Meta, Facebook's Mother Company, Is Laying Off 11,000+ Employees
Overview
Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg has officially announced in a press release that more than 11,000 employees will be dismissed from the company today. All of these employees will be losing access to Meta systems immediately but will have access to their emails today in order to communicate with their former colleagues.
Meta is also extended its hiring freeze until Q1 2023. This means that until the end of March 2023, Meta will be not be hiring additional staff. Limited exceptions will apply if absolutely necessary.
History
The rise of e-commerce when the pandemic started affected positively online service providers, advertisers and social media networks. However, the rapid growth of the e-commerce was reversed and as Mark Zuckerberg states online commerce returned to prior, pre-pandemic trends. In combination with the current economical situation around the world things turned out to be far worse than expected. Meta hired a lot of staff which is currently considered to be higher than needed.
Meta is proceeding to a major restructuring and reorganisation in order to be more viable overall as a company. This includes the decision to reduce its staff by 13% for now.
Severance Package
Departing Meta employees in the US will be receiving a special severance package which includes the following according to Meta:
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1. Severance. We will pay 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap.
2. PTO. We’ll pay for all remaining PTO time.
3. RSU vesting. Everyone impacted will receive their November 15, 2022 vesting.
4. Health insurance. We’ll cover the cost of healthcare for people and their families for six months.
5. Career services. We’ll provide three months of career support with an external vendor, including early access to unpublished job leads.
6. 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.
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Severance packages for Meta employees in other countries will be different outside the US since local legislations may require from employers to compensate differently their dismissed employees.
You can read Meta’s entire press release here.
