Facebook parent company Meta has laid off more than 11,000 employees, or about 13 percent of its workforce, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff Nov. 9.
The social media giant will also cut discretionary spending and freeze hiring through the first quarter of 2023, he wrote.
Mr. Zuckberberg said he believed the increased revenue that tech companies experienced during the pandemic would continue.
"Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected," he wrote. "I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that."
Mr. Zuckberg said the company would shift its focus to artificial intelligence discovery, its ads and business platforms, and its long-term plans for the "metaverse."
Other Big Tech firms such as Twitter and Microsoft have also reduced staff in recent weeks as the industry deals with declining revenues and hits to their stock prices. Departing Meta employees will get at least 16 weeks of severance pay, health insurance for six months and three months of career support.