Facebook and Instagram owner Meta to slash 11,000 jobs as part of 'global restructuring'

Facebook’s parent company, Meta has confirmed it plans to cut more than 11,000 jobs globally as part of a major restructuring.

The tech giant, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, will slash the size of its workforce by 13%, it has announced.

Founder and chief executive Mark Zuckerburg told employees he “got it wrong” after confirming redundancies would take place, adding that he “took full responsibility”.

He added the cuts were “some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history”.

“We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1,” he said in a statement.

“I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone and I’m especially sorry to those impacted.”

The company’s biggest platforms – Facebook and Instagram – have come under increased pressure from sites such as TikTok while the company has also spent billions developing the metaverse – a long-term project of Mr Zuckerberg’s.

He said departing staff would get 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, saying support would be “similar” around the world but the company would “follow up soon with separate processes that take into account local employment laws”.

He also confirmed access to internal staff systems would be removed for people leaving “given the amount of access to sensitive information”, but said email addresses would be active “throughout the day” so that “everyone can say farewell”.