Meta to layoff more than 11,000 of its staff

(NBC) - Meta is laying off 13% of its work force as of Wednesday, November 9, 2022.

That comes out to more than 11,000 employees.

In a letter to the company, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote:

"Today I'm sharing some of the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1."

The news gave Meta shares a bump in pre-market trading today, climbing 4%.

Tough time

The layoffs come amid a tough time for Facebook parent company Meta, which provided lukewarm guidance in late october for its upcoming fourth-quarter earnings.

Meta's costs and expenses jumped 19% year-over-year in the third quarter to $22.1 billion.

While the company's overall sales declined 4% to $27.71 billion in the quarter, its operating income dropped 46% from the previous year to $5.66 billion.

Zuckerberg's letter went on to say:

"I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I'm especially sorry to those impacted."

Heavily invested in Metaverse technology

Meta has invested heavily recently in its Metaverse technology which is a digital world that can be accessed through virtual reality and augmented reality headsets.

This hefty bet has cost meta $9.4 billion so far in 2022.

Impacted employees will receive 16 weeks of pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service.

Meta will also cover health insurance for six months.

Meta employed more than 87,000 workers as of the end of September.