Meta cuts 10,000 jobs in latest round of layoffs :

Facebook owner Meta on Tuesday announced a fresh wave of job cuts as part of what CEO Mark Zuckerberg has described as the company’s “year of efficiency” as the US tech sector continues to shrink.

In an email to employees, Zuckerberg said Meta would cut 10,000 jobs targeting middle management over the next few months and that 5,000 other positions would remain vacant. The cuts follow an 11,000 job cut that the company announced in November.

“It’s going to be tough and there’s no getting around it. It means saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success,” said Zuckerberg.

The first casualties will be Meta’s recruiting department as the company officially ends the hiring frenzy that came as Big Tech ramped up operations to meet high demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

Engineering and commercial departments will also be impacted in the months ahead, and “in a small number of cases, it may take until the end of the year to finalize these changes,” Zuckerberg said.

In January, Zuckerberg warned of further pain when he told analysts the company’s “management theme for 2023 is the ‘Year of Efficiency'” and that he would focus on making the company “a stronger and more nimble organization.” .

Meta has had a tough 2022 amid a poor economic climate that has forced advertisers to curtail marketing and Apple’s privacy changes that have reduced the scope for ad personalization.

Leaner, faster?

The company is also under pressure to take a big risk in the Metaverse, the world of virtual reality that Meta believes will be the next online frontier.

Last year’s troubles caused the company’s share price to fall by a staggering two-thirds in 12 months, but the stock has rallied in 2023 as investors are comfortable with Zuckerberg’s promises to run a leaner company.

Meta’s share price shot up another 5 percent following the announcement of the latest job cuts.

Meta’s CEO and founder said he will “flatten our organization by removing multiple layers of management,” which would mean directing many managers to become “individual contributors.”

Zuckerberg said he’s been pleasantly surprised by the benefits of a more streamlined operation where “a lot of things have moved faster” and lower-priority projects have been eliminated.

“A leaner organization will deliver on its highest priorities faster. People will be more productive and their work will be more fun and fulfilling,” he said.