March 15, 2023: On Tuesday, Meta is planning to release 10,000 more employees and incur restructuring costs which range from $3 billion to $5 billion, the firm announced, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg, which warns economic instability could persist for “many years.”

Shares of Meta increased by about 5.5%.

“Here’s the timeline you should anticipate, over the next couple of months, org leaders announce restructuring plans focused on flattening our organs, cancelling lower priority projects, and reducing our hiring prices,” Zuckerberg stated in a message to workers, which was also posted to the technology blog of the firm.

He further stated that the Facebook parent plans to close 5,000 additional open roles that it still needs to fill. In a nod to continued economic, Zuckerberg noted that the firm should prepare for “the possibility that this recent economic reality will continue for many years.”

In an SEC filing stating the cuts, Meta also stated it expected lowered total expenses in 2023, which range from $86 billion to $92 billion.

The recent round of layoffs follows a previous round of cuts stated in November that affected over 11,000 workers, equating to roughly 13% of Meta’s overall staff.

Zuckerberg is pitching 2023 as the company’s “year of efficiency,” aiming to become “a stronger and more nimble organization.”

“We are a technology firm, and our ultimate output is what we make for people,” Zuckerberg stated. The firm will also increase each manager’s direct reports as part of the restructuring.

In February, Zuckerberg told analysts that Meta plans “on cutting projects that aren’t stating or may no longer be crucial” while simultaneously “removes layers of middle management making decisions faster.”

“A leaner org executing its highest priorities faster,” Zuckerberg’s message said.

Still, Meta continues spending billions of dollars developing the virtual and augmented reality technologies required to build the digital universe coined the metaverse. The company’s Reality Labs division, tasked with creating the metaverse, lost $13.7 billion in 2022 on $2.16 billion of earnings.

Amazon announced a recent round of layoffs in January, impacting 18,000 employees across multiple divisions.