American media companies are facing significant layoffs amid inflation and supply chain issues. The Deseret News reported on Friday that Elon Musk began a large wave of layoffs at Twitter, reportedly leaving half of the social media platform’s 7,500 staff members without jobs.
Now, Facebook’s parent company, Meta Platforms Inc., is also planning to lay off thousands of employees this week, The Wall Street Journal reported. The layoffs could reportedly come as soon as Wednesday.
CNBC reports that the layoffs, which will impact thousands of employees, would be the first major employee reduction in Meta’s history. These cuts in staff numbers come after Meta reportedly increased its staff by more than 40,000 jobs during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Meta has faced slow economic growth due to competing with TikTok and dealing with Apple privacy changes. The company has seen the impact in its stocks — New York Daily News reported that Meta’s stock plunged by about 70% this year.
This is the lowest Meta shares have been since 2016, making the social media company the worst performer in the S&P 500 market in 2022, per CNBC. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that while the company tries to lift investments, Meta will be putting a freeze on hiring and projects.
The media company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, Whatsapp, and Messenger, has been struggling for months after spending billions on launching the metaverse. According to The New York Times, many of Silicon Valley’s largest and most powerful companies, like Meta, are facing hiring freezes and layoffs.
So far, companies like Microsoft, Twitter, and Snapchat have cut back on jobs due to high-interest rates and inflation.