Red Herring

THE BUSINESS OF TECHNOLOGY

  • Startups
  • Mobile
  • Enterprise
  • Consumer
  • Social
  • Events

Meta Cuts 11,000 Workers as Revenue Plummets

November 9, 2022

Facebook’s parent company Meta is to cut 11,000 jobs following a catastrophic drop in revenue. 

The company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a note to staff that Meta had become overstaffed and “inefficient.” The job losses will be the first round of redundancies in the company’s history, and will affect one in eight staff. 

In the post, Zuckerberg said Meta overinvested at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, believing the increase in activity online would only increase after restrictions related to the pandemic were eased. 

“Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected,” he said. “Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”

Zuckerberg said Meta will continue to focus on its metaverse project, describing it as a “high-priority growth area” despite criticism. Research into the concept has upped R&D costs to $10 billion each quarter. The CEO also said the company will focus on artificial intelligence and advertising. 

Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, has seen its share price drop dramatically in recent months, from a peak of $379 in September 2021 to around $105 today. Zuckerberg was quick to point the finger at Apple for the loss in revenue. In 2021, Apple limited the amount of data Facebook could gather from its iPhone users, which made it more difficult for the social media site to sell effective advertising. 

Although the scale of the redundancies is both massive and unprecedented for Meta, it is still far less severe than Twitter’s cuts last week. In a matter of weeks, Elon Musk’s company cut half of its total workforce. 

  • 
  • 
  • 
  • 

Filed Under: Social, Top Story

Related Articles

  • U.K. Introduces Bill Boosting Regulator Power to Curb Big Tech Competition Abuses
  • Foxconn to Switch Focus to Electric Vehicles 
  • FTC Warns Tech Companies Over AI Claims 

Widget Spacer

Top 100

The Red Herring Top 100 awards highlights the most exciting startups from Asia, Europe and the Americas.

Learn More

Upcoming Events

  • Top 100 Asia

  • Top 100 North America

  • Top 100 Europe

Widget Spacer

Guest Column

What is a Learning Management System?

Rouben David, of CourseForMe.com, outlines the features and benefits of

Widget Spacer

Subscribe

Subscribe now to get event news and updates delivered right to your inbox:

Widget Spacer

#DigitalHerring Tweet

My Tweets
  • About
  • Press & Media
  • Contact Us
Red Herring LinkedInRed Herring Facebook

Copyright © · Red Herring, Inc.

Copyright © 2025 · Red Herring Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in