On Wednesday, Facebook parent company Meta announced massive layoffs, shedding 11,000 jobs, or roughly 13% of its workforce, amid an industrywide slowdown that has rattled Silicon Valley in recent months.
The layoffs are the company's first significant workforce reduction since its founding in 2004, and are the latest indication that once-invincible tech behemoths are facing a reckoning.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described the layoffs as "some of the most difficult changes we've made inMeta states "adding that the company took over during the pandemic, assuming that the company's ultra-rapid growth would continue."

Meta, which employs approximately 87,000 people, has recently implemented cost-cutting measures such as hiring freezes and the elimination of non-essential travel.

In his note to employees, Zuckerberg stated that Meta's history," he continued, adding that the company overhired during the pandemic, assuming that the company's ultra-rapid growth would continue.

The dramatic change comes as the company undergoes significant change on two fronts.

First, the company has made a multibillion-dollar investment in the so-called metaverse, a virtual reality utopia in which people live, work, and play. Second, advertisers are cutting back on spending due to the uncertain economy. The pullback has hit Meta hard, as ads account for nearly all of its revenue. It has also caused pain for ad-supported services such as Snap and YouTube.

According to Zuckerberg, the 11,000 Meta employees who will lose their jobs will receive 16 weeks of severance pay and six months of health insurance.