Facebook Parent Meta Plans Additional Layoffs in Coming Weeks: Report

Meta Platforms, Facebook’s parent company, plans to announce additional layoffs in multiple rounds over the coming months, which could match the tally of 13% job cuts from a year ago, reported Friday. the Wall Street Journal citing people familiar with the matter.

Meta laid off 11,000 employees four months ago and would be the first Big Tech company to announce a second round of mass layoffs.

The first wave of new cuts would be announced next week and are expected to hit non-technical roles the hardest, according to the report.

The company is also expected to close some projects and teams alongside these reductions, the report added.

Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.

Separately, Meta Platforms said on Friday it was exploring strategic alternatives for customer service company Kustomer that it acquired in a process that ended last year.

“We are currently exploring strategic alternatives for Kustomer and will continue to support Kustomer’s products and customers throughout this process,” the Facebook owner said in a statement emailed to Reuters, without providing further details. on the alternatives.

The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the news on Friday, said Meta plans to divest Kustomer as it seeks to refocus on its core business, citing the company and people familiar with the planned deal.

Kustomer sells CRM software that enables businesses to communicate with consumers via phone, email, SMS, WhatsApp, Instagram and other channels. It had seen usage skyrocket during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Meta made the decision to focus on its fastest-growing business messaging offerings, including the monetization opportunity for WhatsApp in light of the company’s “efficiency efforts”.

© Thomson Reuters 2023