Meta has announced the layoff of 11,000 employees, accounting for 13% of its global workforce. The mass layoffs are the first in Meta’s 18-year history, and they come on the heels of similar cuts at other US tech behemoths such as Microsoft, Salesforce, and Twitter.

According to Mark Zuckerberg,

“Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history. I’ve decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13% and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking several additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1.”

Zuckerberg said the troubles began with COVID. A surge in e-commerce and online tools led Zuckerberg to “significantly increase” investments. This decision was riding on the belief that the wave would continue after the pandemic.

However, he stated,

“Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected.”

Zuckerberg stated that Meta would concentrate its efforts on a few high-growth areas, such as advertising, artificial intelligence, and the metaverse.

Employees who are laid off will receive “16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for every year of service, with no cap.” In addition, the company will “provide three months of career support through an external vendor, including early access to unpublished job leads.”