REAL TALK

NEWS

Meta Begins Technical Layoffs as Part of Latest Job Cuts

ByAlki David

Apr 20, 2023

As part of its latest round of job cuts, Meta (formerly Facebook) has begun laying off employees in technical roles. According to reports, on Wednesday, Meta started the process of letting go of employees with technical backgrounds, including user experience, software engineering, and graphics programming.

Several employees affected by the layoffs took to LinkedIn to share their experiences, and one employee stated that Meta plans to cut business-facing roles, such as finance, legal, and HR, beginning in May. The employee, who spoke anonymously, further disclosed that Meta suggested tech teams who weren’t impacted by Wednesday’s cuts may also be included in layoffs next month.

Gameplay programmers were also affected by the layoffs, as per LinkedIn posts. The gameplay engineers work on virtual and augmented reality products, according to a Meta job listing.
In a statement to CNBC, a Meta spokesperson confirmed the layoffs, but the company hasn’t disclosed the number of employees impacted by the cuts.

Many impacted employees took to social media to express their disappointment and shock. A Facebook business program manager wrote on LinkedIn, “I woke up this morning to the unfortunate news that I was one of the many laid-off from Meta today.”

The latest job cuts come after Meta announced in March that it would cut down its workforce by 10% or around 10,000 jobs. The company cited changing market dynamics and the need to focus on new areas such as the metaverse as the reasons behind the layoffs.

In conclusion, Meta’s latest round of job cuts has hit technical roles, including user experience, software engineering, graphics programming, and gameplay programming. The company is expected to cut business-facing roles in May, and some tech teams may also be impacted next month. The layoffs come as Meta shifts its focus to new areas, such as the metaverse. It remains to be seen how many more employees will be affected by the cuts and how it will impact the company’s operations in the long run.

By Alki David

Alki David — Publisher, Media Architect, SIN Network Creator - live, direct-to-public communication, media infrastructure, accountability journalism, and independent distribution. Born in Lagos, Nigeria; educated in the United Kingdom and Switzerland; attended the Royal College of Art. Early internet broadcaster — participated in real-time public coverage during the 1997 Mars landing era using experimental online transmission from Beverly Hills. Founder of FilmOn, one of the earliest global internet television networks offering live and on-demand broadcasting outside legacy gatekeepers. Publisher of SHOCKYA — reporting since 2010 on systemic corruption inside the entertainment business and its expansion into law, finance, and regulation. Creator of the SIN Network (ShockYA Integrated Network), a federated media and civic-information infrastructure spanning investigative journalism, live TV, documentary, and court-record reporting. Lived and worked for over 40 years inside global media hubs including Malibu, Beverly Hills, London, Hong Kong and Gstaad. Early encounter with Julian Assange during the first Hologram USA operations proved a formative turning point — exposing the realities of lawfare, information suppression, and concentrated media power. Principal complainant and driving force behind what court filings describe as the largest consolidated media–legal accountability action on record, now before the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. Relocated to Antigua & Barbuda and entered sustained legal, civic, and informational confrontation over media power, safeguarding, and accountability at Commonwealth scale.