Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsAppprovides lay off thousands of employees starting this week due to the economic crisis in the sector, which has already prompted several tech companies to take similar measures, including Twitter after the brand new purchase of the platform by Elon Musk.
The newspaper The Wall Street newspaperciting people familiar with the matter, he reported that the layoffs could affect “many thousands” of Meta employees and that the staff cut would be announced on Wednesday.
As of September 30, Meta had some 87,000 employees worldwide on its different platforms, which include the social networking sites Facebook and Instagram, as well as the WhatsApp messaging platform.
Following the recent release of disappointing quarterly results, Meta’s CEO, Marco Zuckerberghe said the company’s staff won’t increase by the end of 2023, and neither it may decrease slightly.
Big layoffs in Silicon Valley
Last Thursday, Silicon Valley company Band Y lyft announced large-scale layoffs while Amazon he said he would freeze hiring at his corporate offices.
Twitterrecently purchased by Elon Musk, it has just laid off nearly half of its 7,500 employees.
These platforms whose business model is based on advertising are particularly affected budget cuts for advertisersaffected by inflation and rising interest rates.
Meta’s net profit fell by $ 4.4 billion in the third quarter (-52% in one year).
“We are faced with unstable macroeconomic contextincreased competition, ad targeting issues and rising costs of our long-term investments, but I have to say our products are better than some feedback suggests, ”Zuckerberg said in late October, trying to convey a reassuring message.
However, the share of the Californian group fell by 24.56% the next day on Wall Street. In one year, Meta lost nearly $ 600 billion in market capitalization.
The company has been worrying the markets since the beginning of the year, when for the first time, it announced the loss of users on its original social network, Facebook.
In addition to its advertising woes, investors have worried about Zuckerberg’s decision to allocate large funds to the development of the metaverse, a nascent parallel universe heralded as the future of the Internet.
These layoffs add to those of Twitter following its takeover by South African tycoon Elon Musk, who ordered the termination of 50% of the workforce, thus firing thousands of people in his various delegations around the world.
The billionaire justified the decision in this “there is no other option when the company is losing more than four million dollars a day”.
Elon Musk’s plans for the new Twitter
In this context, Musk intends to create a paid subscription service to verify user accounts, an initiative that the South African had to defend against the numerous criticisms received.
“The general verification it will democratize journalism and strengthen the voice of the people“, he tweeted, responding to the concerns of associations, advertisers and even the United Nations, which fear an increase in hate speech and disinformation on the net, stressed the AFP.
With the new plan, paying users $ 8 per month for the platform subscription servicecalled Twitter Bluewill receive the blue flag indicating that the account is verified.
That feature is currently only offered to accounts that meet certain criteria, such as being a public figure, an approach Musk described as a “system of lords and vassals”.
On the iPhone, the Twitter app already mentions the new service, but its launch has been postponed to Wednesdaya day after the midterm elections in the United States, according to the New York Times.
“Twitter has to become, by far, the the most accurate source of information about the world. This is our mission, “Musk tweeted on Sunday. Yet many observers fear the emergence of fake accounts.
With information from agencies.
SL
Source: Clarin
