Mark Zuckerberg is trying to offer Meta employees both reassurance and a reality check. As 10% of staff head for the exits, the CEO said in an internal message that he doesn’t expect more company-wide layoffs this year.
In a company-wide note, Meta’s CEO expressed his gratitude to everyone leaving the company as part of the tech giant’s cuts today. He wrote that it’s “always sad to say goodbye” to those who have contributed to Meta.
“I feel the weight of that, and I’m spending a lot of time making sure we manage this as well as possible,” his memo, which was first posted by the New York Times, reads.
Zuckerberg tried to assuage concerns that these cuts are only beginning, saying in the note that he doesn’t expect any additional “company-wide” layoffs this year.
That opens the door, of course, to more targeted cuts against specific parts of Meta, like its hardware division Reality Labs, which saw layoffs earlier this year.
Meta’s HR chief previously said Meta isn’t ruling out further layoffs and that she doesn’t know what the company’s ideal size is.
Meta declined to comment.
In the note, Zuckerberg also doubled down on AI, calling the field highly competitive and saying that while Meta is well-positioned to do well, success is not guaranteed.
He also said that staff have been saying they appreciate taking more ownership and executing their vision “with less bureaucracy and management to navigate,” which is in line with Meta’s renewed focus on small teams and AI-native “pods.”
Read the full memo below:
Hey everyone, I want to express my gratitude to everyone leaving today for all of the hard work you’ve put into serving our community. It’s always sad to say goodbye to people who have contributed to our mission and to building this company. I feel the weight of that, and I’m spending a lot of time making sure we manage this as well as possible. This is the most dynamic I have seen our industry. I’m optimistic about everything we’re building to give billions of people the power to express themselves and connect with the people they care about. I’m also optimistic about delivering personal superintelligence to everyone. We’ve always focused on putting power in people’s hands. This is how we believe progress is made in the world. These values are what makes us different, and they are why Meta has been successful. But success isn’t a given. AI is the most consequential technology of our lifetimes. The companies that lead the way will define the next generation. We’re transforming our company to make sure it will always be the best place for talented people to have the greatest impact. People tell us that they appreciate the ability to take greater ownership and execute their vision with less bureaucracy and management to navigate. At the same time, we also want to provide everyone with as much stability as possible. We won’t always get this balance right, but I care deeply about this so we’ll keep adjusting and work hard to do right by people along the way. To that end, I want to be clear that we do not expect other company-wide layoffs this year. I also want to acknowledge that we haven’t been as clear as we aspire to be in our communication, and that’s one area I want to make sure we improve. I’m confident in what we’re all building together. We are one of the few companies positioned to help define the future. Meta has the talent, the infrastructure, the apps and distribution, and the business model. We have a lot of work ahead, but what’s on the other side is going to be extraordinary. Once again, I’m grateful to those leaving today. And I’m grateful to everyone around the company for all of the historic work we will continue doing together. Mark