Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta Platforms Inc META, said he was accountable for missteps at the social media giant as the company announced the mass firing of thousands of employees on Wednesday.
What Happened: Zuckerberg interacted with hundreds of Meta employees on Tuesday and was downcast, the company disclosed in a SEC filing.
Meta is laying off more than 11,000 employees, about 13% of its workforce, the CEO said in his letter.
“At the start of Covid, the world rapidly moved online and the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth. Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended,” he said.
“I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments. Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected.”
Zuckerberg said he was accountable for Meta's missteps and his over-optimism surrounding growth had led to overstaffing. “I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that.”
The Wall Street Journal had earlier reported the news, stating that such an announcement was expected Wednesday morning.
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Why It Matters: The cuts are expected to be the largest in 2022 for the tech sector.
Meta has more than 87,000 employees as of end-September. The company previously declined comment on the coming cuts and referred to a Zuckerberg statement where he said the company expects to end 2023 as "either roughly the same size or even a slightly smaller organization than we are today."
Price Action: Meta stock traded 3.5% higher in the premarket session on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
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