Meta Platforms Inc META is reportedly planning to lay off thousands of workers in the coming week, similar to what Elon Musk did at Twitter just days ago.
What Happened: The Mark Zuckerberg-led company, which has more than 87,000 employees as of September-end, could lay off thousands and has asked its staff to cancel nonessential travel beginning this week, reported the Wall Street Journal, citing people familiar with the matter.
Meta declined to comment to Benzinga and pointed to a statement by Zuckerberg in its latest earnings call where he said the company would focus its investments on a "small number of high-priority growth areas" in 2023.
“In aggregate, we expect to end 2023 as either roughly the same size or even a slightly smaller organization than we are today," he had said.
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Why It Matters: The layoffs, should they take place, would be the first broad cut in headcount in Meta’s 18-year history, noted the Journal.
Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Musk, who recently took over Twitter, laid off 3,700 people, or nearly half of the social media company's staff.
In June, Meta told employees that it was planning to “turn up the heat” on employees through stricter performance management to weed out underperformers.
Meta’s shares have fallen 73% so far this year. According to third-quarter results, declared in late October, earnings per share was $1.64, much below Wall Street's estimate of $1.91, according to data from Benzinga.
Price Action: On Friday, Meta shares closed 2.1% higher at $90.79 in the regular session, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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