Meta’s workforce in India has been left mostly unscathed by the last leg of global layoffs by the American tech giant.
Sources close to the matter told businessline that Meta has let go of less than 20-30 employees in its India teams.
According to reports, the layoffs have also affected Meta’s top executives in India, where the Director of Marketing and Director and Head of Media Partnerships were let go.
The latest round of cuts targets Meta’s business teams while the previous round of cuts in April focused on technical roles.
Thousands lose jobs in past few months
Between the layoffs in April and May, the company has let go of 10,000 employees. In the November layoffs last year, Meta sacked 11,000 employees.
As of December 2022, Meta had over 86,000 employees around the world, and its workforce in India is estimated to be between 300-400. This likely explains the relatively small number of layoffs that have happened here.
The cuts are part of Meta’s so-called ‘year of efficiency’, which Facebook founder and billionaire Mark Zuckerberg pitched as necessary for the company to slim down, and become more nimble amid a challenging economy and weakened digital advertising market.
In April, Meta reported first-quarter revenue rose 3 per cent from $27.91 billion a year earlier, after three straight periods in which it declined.
Eye on Metaverse
Despite the cost cuts, Meta is still investing heavily into the nascent Metaverse. Its Reality Labs unit, which is developing virtual reality and augmented reality technologies, logged a $3.99 billion operating loss while generating $339 million in sales in the first quarter.
India has been one of the fastest-growing markets for Meta and its business here reported revenues of over ₹16,000 crore in FY21-22.