Meta layoffs hit India teams; number of affected employees unclear

The worst lay-off in the global tech industry by Meta, that saw 11,000 employees being shown the door, has hit India teams too, albeit marginally, reliable sources said on Wednesday.

In one of the worst lay-offs ever in the tech industry after Twitter – which saw 90 per cent of India team being sacked – Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg fired about 13 per cent of the global workforce and extended hiring freeze through Q1 2023.

Sources told IANS that layoffs impacted Meta India team across verticals, although the exact number of affected employees could not be ascertained.

The India unit of Meta did not immediately comment on an IANS query.

Meta is likely to have up to 400 employees in the country, and its business is doing relatively well.

According to business intelligence platform Tofler, net profit of Facebook India Online Services, the registered entity of Meta, jumped to Rs 297 crore in FY22 in comparison to Rs 128 crore in FY21, while its revenues grew 56 per cent to Rs 2,324 crore in FY22 from Rs 1,485 crore in FY21.

Last week, Meta announced that its India head, Ajit Mohan, decided to step down from his role at the company to pursue another opportunity.

Mohan has taken over Indian operations of Snap, which is the parent company of Snapchat, which is growing exponentially in the country especially among the youth.

Meanwhile, Zuckerberg said that as a severance measure, the company will pay 16 weeks of base pay, along with two additional weeks for every year of service, “with no cap”.

“Outside the US, support will be similar, and we’ll follow up soon with separate processes that take into account local employment laws,” he added.