Meta to Cut 5% of Jobs Citing 'Intense Year'
The Facts
Meta — the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram — will this year cut 5% of its workforce according to internal communications acquired by the media on Tuesday.
In a post on the company's internal Workplace forum, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg told staff it was "going to be an intense year" and that "I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams."
The Spin
Narrative A
Cutbacks on the basis of performance reviews are not uncommon in the US, and Meta's decision was to be expected given other recent changes at the company. This is mostly business as usual.
Narrative B
Those in the tech industry who were hoping to see a brighter start to 2025 are quickly learning that's not going to be the reality. Not only is Meta slashing jobs, but other tech giants including Microsoft have announced that cutbacks are coming.