Meta could begin large-scale layoffs this week, report says

An avatar of Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., speaks during the virtual Meta Connect event in New York, US, on Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022.

According to a report from the Wall Street Journal, Meta could be about to start large-scale layoffs.

The layoffs are expected to affect thousands of employees, and the move would be the first major reduction in Meta's history. The company had more than 87,000 employees at the end of the month.

On the company's latest earnings call last month, CNBC quoted Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg as saying that the company was doing well.

In the years to come, we will focus our investments on a small number of high priority growth areas. Some teams will grow, but most others will stay the same over the next year. We expect to end the year as either the same size or slightly smaller than we are now.

Meta shares have plummeted since the beginning of the year, falling to their lowest point in over two years, and the company is now the worst performing in the S&P 500.

Jonathan Vanian was a contributor.