Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, spoke to staff members virtually on Wednesday around 1 p.m. ET, hours after the business announced it would be laying off 13% of its workforce. NBC News was able to obtain a portion of a video.
In a letter sent out early on Wednesday, Zuckerberg stated that while Meta is making cuts across the board, recruiting will be particularly hard hit given that the company expects to hire fewer employees in 2023. With a few exceptions, the company continued its hiring moratorium through the first quarter, according to Zuckerberg.
ALSO READ: Burnt clothing designed by a Nigerian designer is available for $8900
Employees who are impacted will receive 16 weeks of pay in addition to two extra weeks for each year of service, according to Zuckerberg. For six months, Meta will pay for health insurance.
Here’s a transcript of what he said in the video segment:
I know there must be just a range of different emotions. I want to say up front that I take full responsibility for this decision.
I’m the founder and CEO, I’m responsible for the health of our company, for our direction, and for deciding how we execute that, including things like this, and this was ultimately my call.
And it was one of the hardest calls that I’ve had to make in the 18 years of running the company. And a lot of why it’s hard is, obviously, it has a big impact on your lives, but also for our mission. We’re losing people who… you’ve really put your heart and soul into this place.
Each of you is talented and passionate, and each of you has played a role in making Meta the success that it is. No matter what team you may have worked on, each of you played a role in contributing to the products that billions of people use to connect every day.
