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Source: https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/meta-layoff-thousands-of-employees-in-may/4070910/
Meta is planning to lay off 10% of its workforce in May, and more layoffs are planned later in the year, according to a report.
Sources told Reuters that Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will lay off nearly 8,000 employees in May, with more layoffs planned later in the year.
The report of job cuts comes as meta has been spending less on virtual reality and more on AI.
Business and Tech Reporter Scott Budman said Meta hired a lot of people during and after the pandemic to be part of the metaverse. But that hasn’t really worked out.
“Now, we know that the Metaverse is really not going to pan out all that much and turns out to be a flop, so it’s a lot of people that were working in this area that took billions of dollars in investment that didn’t work out, so many of those people are likely to lose their jobs unless they can move into something that’s more current like AI,” he said.
Several big companies have laid off workers recently.
Snap, the parent company of Snapchat, announced this week plans cut a thousand workers, citing AI-driven efficiencies.
“Salesforce has announced some cuts, Oracle cut a lot of people and some of these cuts were blamed on AI, Block, Jack Dorsey’s Company cut about 40% of its workforce and he came right out and said 'AI is doing a lot of these jobs better and less expensively than humans',” Budman said.
And that's a dire warning to college students hoping to get a tech job.
“It’s not gonna stop, this is just the beginning. And what we have seen so far from the companies is contagious,” said Ahmad Banafa, engineering professor at San Jose State.
Banafa says he urges his students to use AI.
“Don’t be left behind. I mean, if you see any kind of new tools in AI, any new projects by the big name, by OpenAI or Google, go and learn it. Get certifications, take classes that would make you in the front of the line when it comes to hiring,” he said.
NBC Bay Area reached out to Meta regarding this report, but the company said they have no comments at this time.