Facebook’s parent company Meta announced today that it is laying off more than 11,000 workers. This is around 13 percent of the total workforce in the company. Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger will all be affected by this mass layoff. At the same time, META chief Mark Zuckerberg has come forward saying that he is responsible for the dismissal.
‘I am taking responsibility for the company being in this way and the decision to dismiss the workers. I know everyone has been hit hard by this. I apologize to all of them,” Mark Zuckerberg, the company’s CEO, wrote in a blog post. He also says that the crisis that suddenly gripped the tech companies after the Covid has led to this deplorable situation.
“Everybody predicted that even after the end of Covid, this crisis will remain permanent. Me too yes. Therefore, we have made significant efforts to increase investment. But unfortunately it didn’t meet the expectations,” Zuckerberg said.
‘I think we are undervalued as a company today. Billions of people use our service to build relationships. Our community is growing. This is an important business that has a lot of potential and can be extremely profitable. Therefore, I firmly believe that this current recession can be prevented if we work efficiently. Zuckerberg added.
Zuckerberg is also promising 16 weeks of base pay to the fired employees, plus an additional two weeks of pay for each year of service. Meta has also offered assistance in completing the immigration process for its employees who remain in the U.S. on work visas upon layoff. In addition, six months health insurance will be provided to them and their families. Meta also announced that these facilities will also be offered to employees outside the US.
The dismissed will receive an official email from the company immediately. Zuckerberg also said that he will give an opportunity for doubt and investigations related to this. Currently, all those who have decided to terminate will no longer be able to access the company’s network system. Zuckerberg said that they can contact the company only through e-mail.