Upcoming job cuts at Meta to be roughly the same magnitude as last year’s – WSJ

Shares of Meta Platforms (META) rose 1.5% in after-hours trading Friday after the Wall Street Journal reported the company is set to lay off more staff over the coming months.

These job cuts are likely to be implemented in multiple rounds. Ultimately, Meta could cut as many jobs as it did in 2022 – roughly 13% of its workforce.

The final count of jobs that need to be removed is still unclear. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on a recent earnings call that 2023 will be a “year of efficiency” at Meta.

Some employees affected by new measures could be informed as early as next week. The non-engineering roles are expected to be hit “especially hard,” the WSJ report notes.

Meta’s Reality Labs, the company’s business unit that produces virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) hardware and software, is expected to close down projects, including those that produce some wearable devices.

“We’re continuing to look across the company, across both Family of Apps and Reality Labs, and really evaluate are we deploying our resources toward the highest leverage opportunities,” Meta Chief Financial Officer Susan Li said Thursday at the Morgan Stanley 2023 Technology, Media & Telecom Conference.

“This is going to result in us making some tough decisions to wind down projects in some places, to shift resources away from some teams.”

Meta shares are up almost 50% year-to-date.

By Senad Karaahmetovic