Meta will lay off 13% of its workforce

IN A LETTER to employees on November 9th Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and chief executive of Meta, struck an apologetic tone as he slashed his workforce. Revenue growth experienced during the pandemic has not endured as he had expected. As a result, 11,000 people, or 13% of Meta’s workforce, will be made redundant.

Meta’s are not the only technology workers being shown the door (see chart). On November 3rd Stripe, a fintech firm, announced it would be cutting 14% of its workforce. A day later Twitter’s new owner, Elon Musk, fired half its staff. According to Crunchbase, a data provider, more than 50,000 American tech personnel have been laid off so far this year, as the industry goes through a harsh downturn. That amounts to less than 1% of the nearly 6m people employed by America’s technology companies. But it is nevertheless a rude shock for firms far more familiar with hiring than firing.