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Amazon plans to eliminate 9,000 more jobs in the next few weeks, CEO Andy Jassy said in a memo to staff on Monday.
The job cuts would mark the second largest round of layoffs in the company’s history, adding to the 18,000 employees the tech giant said it would lay off in January. The company’s workforce doubled during the pandemic, however, in the midst of a hiring surge across almost the entire tech sector.
Tech companies have announced tens of thousands of job cuts this year.
In the memo, Jassy said the second phase of the company’s annual planning process completed this month led to the additional job cuts. He said Amazon will still hire in some strategic areas.
“Some may ask why we didn’t announce these role reductions with the ones we announced a couple months ago. The short answer is that not all of the teams were done with their analyses in the late fall; and rather than rush through these assessments without the appropriate diligence, we chose to share these decisions as we’ve made them so people had the information as soon as possible,” Jassy said.
The job cuts announced Monday will hit profitable areas for the company including its cloud computing unit AWS and its burgeoning advertising business. Twitch, the gaming platform Amazon owns, will also see some layoffs as well as Amazon’s PXT organizations, which handle human resources and other functions.
Prior layoffs had also hit PXT, the company’s stores division, which encompasses its e-commerce business as well as company’s brick-and-mortar stores such as Amazon Fresh and Amazon Go, and other departments such as the one that runs the virtual assistant Alexa.
Earlier this month, the company said it would pause construction on its headquarters building in northern Virginia, though the first phase of that project will open this June with 8,000 employees.
Like other tech companies, including Facebook parent Meta and Google parent Alphabet, Amazon ramped up hiring during the pandemic to meet the demand from homebound Americans that were increasingly buying stuff online to keep themselves safe from the virus.
Amazon’s workforce, in warehouses and offices, doubled to more than 1.6 million people in about two years. But demand slowed as the worst of the pandemic eased. The company began pausing or cancelling its warehouse expansion plans last year.
Amid growing anxiety over the potential for a recession, Amazon in the past few months shut down a subsidiary that’s been selling fabrics for nearly 30 years and shuttered its hybrid virtual, in-home care service Amazon Care among other cost-cutting moves.
Jassy said Monday given the uncertain economy and the “uncertainty that exists in the near future,” the company has chosen to be more streamlined.
He said the teams that will be impacted by the latest round of layoffs are not done making final decisions on which roles will be eliminated. The company plans to finalize those decisions by mid to late April and notify those who will be laid off.
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Source: Rachel Murray / Getty / Lance Reddick
Lance Reddick was loved not only in the real world but also in the virtual world.
The world was stunned following the tragic loss of Lance Reddick. The actor, best known for his role on the iconic HBO Series The Wire and other standout performances on other shows, was also HUGE in the video game space.
Reddick recently took on the character of Albert Wesker in Netflix’s now-canceled Resident Evil series, a role the showrunner said he was perfect for. Reddick himself wished he could continue playing.
The actor’s likeness brings to life Sylens, the mysterious antagonist in Horizon Zero Dawn and its fantastic sequel, Horizon Forbidden West.
But Reddick has become legendary with players of Bungie’s looter/shooter franchise, Destiny. The actor’s iconic voice is behind the Titan Vanguard of the Tower, Captain Zavala, who issues out missions to guardians.
He was also an avid player of the game as well.
To pay tribute to Reddick, Destiny 2 players have been showing love to Captain Zavala by kneeling in front of him and making other gestures to show love to the 60-year-old actor who died from what is described as “natural causes” by his family.
So dope.
It will be interesting to see how Destiny and the Horizon franchises handle Reddick’s passing because he was integral to the progression of both games’ main stories.
Until then, you can see more touching in-game tributes from Destiny 2 players and more in the gallery below.
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Photo: Rachel Murray / Getty
2. So cool
3. Lance Reddick will live forever
HipHopWired Featured Video
Source: Variety / Getty / Jesse Williams
While white conservatives like Ron DeSantis are on a mission to whitewash and completely erase Black history from schools, Jesse Williams is countering their efforts in a unique, fun way.
Jesse Williams set Broadway ablaze with an eye-opening and thirst-inducing performance in Take Me Out as a gay professional baseball player. Now, he is returning to his activist roots with his latest project.
The Tony Award-nominated actor and conceptual artist Glenn Kaino linked up for Homeschooled, a brand-new gaming app for players of all ages that will teach and celebrate diversity in the United States through trivia.
Pop Culture will be the focus of the app, and it will feature categories like “Growing Up Black,” “Soul Brothas,” and “Divas.” There will also be multiple choice sections on sports, geography, and the internet and even a Grey’s Anatomy section with science-related questions, which is a nod to Williams’ role as Dr. Jackson Avery on ABC medical drama.
Each category has a time limit, and players can compete against family, friends, and celebrities.
Jesse Williams Says Its Time To Teach Ourselves
Per the Huffington Post, the father of two said, “You have to be more self-reliant if you want your history to be taught, because we have this war on nonwhite history in American schools. They’re not going to teach us about Black or brown or Asian history in school ― OK, how can we teach it to ourselves?”
Before getting into acting, Williams taught at a high school in Philadelphia. He said that the app is a product of the shift to homeschooling at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, plus the sudden pushback to diversity education in many conservative-led states.
On the app, he serves as the “dean of culture” and hopes to lure in other guest instructors.
“So much of my work is around serious social justice work, these things that really demand our sober attention,” he explained. “That’s of course a priority. But folks of color also like to game, have game nights and be spontaneous and be fun and be creative, and we’re often left out. We’re not included in those games and don’t see ourselves in them.
Homeschooled is available for download in the App Store and Googe Play by heading here.
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Photo: Variety / Getty
During a SXSW panel on Thursday, March 16, Billboard’s Kristin Robinson moderated a conversation between fast-rising singer-songwriter JVKE and SoundExchange president and CEO Michael Huppe.
Titled “The Creator Boom: How the Industry Can Transform,” Robinson clarified from the start that perhaps a more appropriate name would be how the industry already is transforming, and noted the ways in which independent artists who take off on TikTok, like JVKE, are helping write a new rulebook, with companies like SoundExchange (a non-profit collective rights management organization) helping newcomers play the game — and get paid.
Below are the five biggest lessons learned from the conversation.
WEIGH THE OPTION OF STAYING INDEPENDENT
JVKE was indeed offered multi-million dollar offers from major labels to sign, and said “there were so many different options and pressures, and it’s a safe option to take the check up front and recoup in 5-10 years, but in that moment I was just like, ‘I’ve seen how much I can grow on my own and we’re curious to see how much further we can go.’ We’re doing it for the greater good, to encourage artists to see how high the ceiling is.”
His best advice for others looking to follow in his path? “It’s really important that every up and coming artist has a tenacious mindset and commitment to overcoming every obstacle, the heart to keep going. It starts with the artist, you yourself have to really go after it. At first, just focus on being self-sufficient – because we have the ability to be now.”
Huppe agreed, and added , “Lower barriers to entry and being DIY means creators are exploding, we’re having so many more people enter the system. It’s fascinating and very fertile for the industry. The problem with that is what used to be a little more orderly, sometimes it feels like chaos out there. Part of what we do is bring order to the chaos.”
WORK TO ATTAIN VIRAL SUSTAINABILITY
“I’m always trying new things and there’s always this balance of trying to fund what you want to do, but you want to balance that with real impact,” said JVKE of his struggle to both sustain momentum and use his platform wisely. “There’s always so much joy that I find in connecting with my fans and I’m always looking through my DMs, looking at my Discord, all sorts of platforms to connect with fans. Now I have a tour coming up and I think that’s really important for a modern artist, to know there are real people, not just numbers [driving your success].
TAKE ADVANTAGE OF TODAY’S ENVIRONMENT FOR RISING ARTISTS
Huppe said that when he first entered the industry, the biggest threat was pirate cassette operations. “Now,” he said, “the biggest change is what used to be an ownership model. For 80 years the industry was based around ownership, everything was for sale.” He added that there are, of course, new products being monetized today, like virtual merchandise in the metaverse. But even so, he said, “Now people own very little and it’s all about access. Record labels have adapted and the artists, especially the younger up and coming artists, have really grabbed onto it and seized it.”
Which is exactly why JVKE believes it’s “the best time ever to be [emerging] because you can make music, put it out, get equipment [shipped to] your bedroom. All of those gates to entry that used to be there are pretty much gone, and I think that’s why we see so many people releasing songs now. And I think in the next few years we’re going to see a lot more up and coming artists with a similar story to me.”
BALANCE CONTENT WITH MUSIC
For an artist like JVKE who took off thanks to TikTok, he spoke to the digital dance of balancing out creator content with posts that directly tease or promote his music. “It was more of a grind when I started out,” he said. “Ultimately, it’s all a mission to connect with people personally. As much as we talk about the algorithm, it’s also just reaching people where they are. Every artist likes doing different things, for me I love writing songs and the raw element of throwing up my phone and playing it and seeing if people like it. Part of growing, for me, means expanding my team so I can stick to what I’m best at. But at first an artist has to do it all themselves.”
MIND YOUR METADATA
Metadata, simply explained by Huppe, “Is data about data.” He said,” In today’s streaming world where 85% of the U.S. recorded music market is streaming, it’s that metadata that determines where the money goes.” He said that over 36 billion performances are reported into SoundExchange each month, with the company paying out every month, totalling over $1 billion annually. “The payment needs to flow properly so people can make a living,” he said. “Metadata is not the sexy part of this, it’s not why anyone does this, but your life will be substantially different if you do it well.”
A wide coalition of music industry organizations have joined together to release a series of core principles regarding artificial intelligence — the first collective stance the entertainment business has taken surrounding the topic. Announced during the panel “Welcome to the Machine: Art in the Age of A.I.” held on Thursday (March 16) at South by Southwest (SXSW) and moderated by Billboard deputy editorial director Robert Levine, the principles reveal a growing sense of urgency by entertainment industry leaders to address the quickly-evolving issue.
“Over the past few months, I think [generative artificial intelligence] has gone from a ‘someday’ issue to a today issue,” said Levine. “It’s coming much quicker than anyone thought.”
In response to the fast-approaching collision of generative AI and the entertainment business, the principles detail the need for using the new technology to “empower human expression” while also asserting the importance of representing “creators’ interests…in policymaking” regarding the technology. Principles geared toward the latter include ensuring that AI developers acquire licenses for artistic works used in the “development and training of AI models” — and keep records of which works are used — and that governments refrain from creating “copyright or other IP exemptions” for the technology.
Among the 40 different groups that have joined the coalition — dubbed the Human Artistry Campaign — are music industry leaders including the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), National Music Publishers’ Association (NMPA), American Association of Independent Music (A2IM), SoundExchange, ASCAP, BMI and more.
Read the full list of principles below and get more information, including the full list of groups involved in the effort, here.
Core Principles for Artificial Intelligence Applications in Support of Human Creativity and Accomplishments:
Technology has long empowered human expression, and AI will be no different.
For generations, various technologies have been used successfully to support human creativity. Take music, for example… From piano rolls to amplification to guitar pedals to synthesizers to drum machines to digital audio workstations, beat libraries and stems and beyond, musical creators have long used technology to express their visions through different voices, instruments, and devices. AI already is and will increasingly play that role as a tool to assist the creative process, allowing for a wider range of people to express themselves creatively.
Moreover, AI has many valuable uses outside of the creative process itself, including those that amplify fan connections, hone personalized recommendations, identify content quickly and accurately, assist with scheduling, automate and enhance efficient payment systems – and more. We embrace these technological advances.
Human-created works will continue to play an essential role in our lives.
Creative works shape our identity, values, and worldview. People relate most deeply to works that embody the lived experience, perceptions, and attitudes of others. Only humans can create and fully realize works written, recorded, created, or performed with such specific meaning. Art cannot exist independent of human culture.
Use of copyrighted works, and use of the voices and likenesses of professional performers, requires authorization, licensing, and compliance with all relevant state and federal laws.
We fully recognize the immense potential of AI to push the boundaries for knowledge and scientific progress. However, as with predecessor technologies, the use of copyrighted works requires permission from the copyright owner. AI must be subject to free-market licensing for the use of works in the development and training of AI models. Creators and copyright owners must retain exclusive control over determining how their content is used. AI developers must ensure any content used for training purposes is approved and licensed from the copyright owner, including content previously used by any pre-trained AIs they may adopt. Additionally, performers’ and athletes’ voices and likenesses must only be used with their consent and fair market compensation for specific uses.
Governments should not create new copyright or other IP exemptions that allow AI developers to exploit creators without permission or compensation.
AI must not receive exemptions from copyright law or other intellectual property laws and must comply with core principles of fair market competition and compensation. Creating special shortcuts or legal loopholes for AI would harm creative livelihoods, damage creators’ brands, and limit incentives to create and invest in new works.
Copyright should only protect the unique value of human intellectual creativity.
Copyright protection exists to help incentivize and reward human creativity, skill, labor, and judgment -not output solely created and generated by machines. Human creators, whether they use traditional tools or express their creativity using computers, are the foundation of the creative industries and we must ensure that human creators are paid for their work.
Trustworthiness and transparency are essential to the success of AI and protection of creators.
Complete recordkeeping of copyrighted works, performances, and likenesses, including the way in which they were used to develop and train any AI system, is essential. Algorithmic transparency and clear identification of a work’s provenance are foundational to AI trustworthiness. Stakeholders should work collaboratively to develop standards for technologies that identify the input used to create AI-generated output. In addition to obtaining appropriate licenses, content generated solely by AI should be labeled describing all inputs and methodology used to create it — informing consumer choices, and protecting creators and rightsholders.
Creators’ interests must be represented in policymaking.
Policymakers must consider the interests of human creators when crafting policy around AI. Creators live on the forefront of, and are building and inspiring, evolutions in technology and as such need a seat at the table in any conversations regarding legislation, regulation, or government priorities regarding AI that would impact their creativity and the way it affects their industry and livelihood.
China accused the United States on Thursday of spreading disinformation and suppressing TikTok following reports that the Biden administration was calling for its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the popular video-sharing app.
The U.S. has yet to present evidence that TikTok threatens its national security and was using the excuse of data security to abuse its power to suppress foreign companies, Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told reporters at a daily briefing.
“The U.S. should stop spreading disinformation about data security, stop suppressing the relevant company, and provide an open, fair and non-discriminatory environment for foreign businesses to invest and operate in the U.S.,” Wang said.
TikTok was dismissive Wednesday of a report in The Wall Street Journal that said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., part of the Treasury Department, was threatening a U.S. ban on the app unless its owners, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., divested.
“If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: A change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan said.
Shanahan said TikTok was already answering concerns through “transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification.”
The Journal report cited anonymous “people familiar with the matter.” The Treasury Department and the White House’s National Security Council declined to comment.
In late February, the White House gave all federal agencies 30 days to wipe TikTok off all government devices. Some agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and the State Department already have restrictions in place. The White House already does not allow TikTok on its devices.
Congress passed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” in December as part of a sweeping government funding package. The legislation does allow for TikTok use in certain cases, including for national security, law enforcement and research purposes.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in both the House and Senate have been moving forward with legislation that would give the Biden administration more power to clamp down on TikTok.
TikTok remains extremely popular and is used by two-thirds of teens in the U.S. But there is increasing concern that Beijing could obtain control of American user data that the app has obtained and push pro-Beijing narratives and propaganda on the app.
China has long been concerned about the influence of overseas social media and communications apps, and bans most of the best-known ones, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube — and TikTok.
TikTok was dismissive Wednesday of reports that the Biden administration was calling for its Chinese owners to sell their stakes in the popular video-sharing app, saying such a move wouldn’t help protect national security.
The company was responding to a report in The Wall Street Journal that said the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S., part of the Treasury Department, was threatening a U.S. ban on the app unless its owners, Beijing-based ByteDance Ltd., divested.
“If protecting national security is the objective, divestment doesn’t solve the problem: a change in ownership would not impose any new restrictions on data flows or access,” TikTok spokesperson Maureen Shanahan said. “The best way to address concerns about national security is with the transparent, U.S.-based protection of U.S. user data and systems, with robust third-party monitoring, vetting, and verification, which we are already implementing.”
The Journal report cited anonymous “people familiar with the matter.” The Treasury Department and the White House’s National Security Council declined to comment.
Late last month, the White House gave all federal agencies 30 days to wipe TikTok off all government devices.
The Office of Management and Budget called the guidance a “critical step forward in addressing the risks presented by the app to sensitive government data.” Some agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Homeland Security and State, already have restrictions in place. The White House already does not allow TikTok on its devices.
Congress passed the “No TikTok on Government Devices Act” in December as part of a sweeping government funding package. The legislation does allow for TikTok use in certain cases, including for national security, law enforcement and research purposes.
Meanwhile, lawmakers in both the House and Senate have been moving forward with legislation that would give the Biden administration more power to clamp down on TikTok.
Rep. Mike McCaul, the chairman of the House Foreign Relations Committee, has been a vocal critic of the app, saying the Chinese Communist Party is using it to “manipulate and monitor its users while it gobbles up Americans’ data to be used for their malign activities.”
“Anyone with TikTok downloaded on their device has given the CCP a backdoor to all their personal information. It’s a spy balloon into your phone,” the Texas Republican said.
TikTok remains extremely popular and is used by two-thirds of teens in the U.S. But there is increasing concern that Beijing could obtain control of American user data that the app has obtained.
The company has been dismissive of the ban for federal devices and has noted that it is developing security and data privacy plans as part of the Biden administration’s ongoing national security review.
To TikTok, or not to TikTok, that is the question.
Plus, many more regarding the app’s instrumental role in making hits — and how an artist can participate in the process meaningfully — were addressed during “The Fight for Artistic Authenticity on TikTok” panel at SXSW 2023.
Moderated by Billboard‘s Lyndsey Havens, the panel featured experts Ash Stahl, CEO of TikTok-first creative studio Flighthouse; Alana Dolgin, head of influencer strategy at independent record label and influencer management company Homemade Projects; and Mekaila Morris, senior manager of creators & content at Interscope Records.
The conversation opened with stories of successful TikTok campaigns each panelist had worked on. Stahl remembered working on Surface‘s “Sunday Best,” the electro-pop duo’s vibrant 2019 track that became part of the first crop of TikTok smash hits the following year. “We had a team member just add in a little ad-lib at the beginning that was like, ‘2020 rewind’ and then just put this song at the end of it,” she said. “You can see this huge spike of millions of new listens on Spotify that, one year later, really reinvigorated the song.”
Dolgin described SAINt JHN‘s “Roses” (which was originally released in 2016 and later remixed by Kazakh producer Imanbek at the end of 2019) as being in the “first class of viral hits on TikTok” and mapped out the song’s trajectory to becoming a global anthem, starting in Russia and then spending $2,000 — “which obviously now we know is absolutely nothing in this space,” she said — to move it through the U.S. and ultimately around the world.
Dolgin explained that part of the artistic authenticity element on the platform is knowing when it’s not the right move to have the artist behind a trending song hop on TikTok and participate in whatever fanfare is elevating its exposure through UGC (user-generated content) and streams. “You don’t necessarily need to be on TikTok if you’re an artist. There’s so many songs that are going viral constantly that have nothing to do with the artist that when you try to bring the artist in it truly doesn’t make sense, I think it does more harm than good,” she said.
Having also had success working Cardi B’s “Up,” Dolgin added: “We use her voice all the time with ad-libs that go viral. Sure, she posts on TikTok sometimes, but she approves every sound snippet.”
Morris continued that thought, speaking about Machine Gun Kelly‘s 2022 single “Emo Girl,” featuring Willow, and how she worked closely with him to determine the most authentic ways for him to be on TikTok. “[With] taking the artists’ vision and learning how they want to represent themselves online, you have to understand the nature of the platform and what makes sense.”
Compared to labels’ close working relationships with artists, Stahl described Lighthouse as being “two degrees separated” from them. “I prefer working with artists that aren’t really looking to get on platform because it’s kind of difficult when we’re so separated,” she explained. “We’re not looking to make content, we’re looking to create success with music.”
“You can do both,” she continued. “You can find avenues to create really successful content, and sure, there might be a song that’s a really good fit for the platform as is, or you might need to throw in an ad-lib or make a little mash up. You can do that with the artists where it’s coming from their profile, or you can do that from finding an influencer that has a good fan base and have them launch the sound from their page or from the DSP release on platform.”
Stahl gave a compelling example. During the pandemic, she got her client — EDM producer Said the Sky, whom she’s been managing for the last nine years — to practice making TikTok videos. The result was a now-viral snippet (featuring an ad-lib that goes, “Wait, I can do that better,” followed by dubstep music), which, despite Said the Sky never wanting to officially distribute it, has now soundtracked more than 100,000 TikTok videos, according to Stahl.
When it comes to knowing when’s the right time to invest in a TikTok campaign, Morris discussed tapping into one’s intuition. She recalled how client Gracie Abrams‘ performance of “I Know It Won’t Work” on Jimmy Kimmel Live! went viral on TikTok. “Instead of focusing on what the single is for the project, it’s like, ‘Hey, we’re seeing internet culture touch this track and really, really resonate with it,” she said.
“If it’s moving, put f—nig money into it. That’s the best advice I could give to someone,” Stahl added. “Don’t be like, ‘Oh well, it’s already moving. We’ll just let it ride out.’ My advice would be if it’s moving, take full advantage. We know that it’s working in this specific niche or community on TikTok, let’s take that and try to do it in another niche, or let’s go find that community on a different platform and go for it again.”
From Dolgin’s perspective as someone who works exclusively with creators, it’s all about pairing the right influencers with song campaigns and “never about making the song go viral,” she said. “But, I will always guarantee that you’re getting the best influencers possible for the song and for the sound.”
Morris ultimately compared working in TikTok to working in stocks because of they’re constantly watching how songs and sounds are peaking and falling on the platform. “But you have to take the whole market into account,” she said. When it comes to forecasting trends regarding TikTok and the future of artists and their music on the platform, Stahl predicted there will be more “made by, made for TikTok” independent artists like JVKE who have no barrier to entry, while Dolgin said TikTok will champion specific creators and give them more resources to become successful like Alix Earle. Meanwhile, Morris explained how TikTok is culturally shifting to a more community-focused place.
“As genres start to merge as well, we’re going to start to lose these like clear identifiers, which is going to require people to really hone in on what they like and who they want to be and who they want to speak to,” she said. “And as more people get on TikTok, I think we’re going to have less of those big, big moments, but we’re going to have really valuable smaller moments within the communities with these artists, where they’re truly deeply connecting with people. Then it’s our job to bring those forward and become more consumable to the mainstream.”
Billboard’s parent company PMC is the largest shareholder of SXSW and its brands are official media partners of SXSW.
Music business entrepreneur and EMPIRE founder/CEO Ghazi Shami announced the launch of a new, white-label distribution platform called Supply Chain today (March 15). The product, which is available now and is separate from EMPIRE, will allow brands, labels, distributors, service providers and retailers to make use of the platform to distribute music to any service provider and integrate distribution into their own products and offerings.
“With Supply Chain, we have built the most comprehensive distribution platform in the music industry,” Shami said in a statement. “Brands and services can now tap into the power of Supply Chain and offer a full set of distribution services to their customers.”
Supply Chain will offer SaaS and API solutions to allow companies to tap into digital tools to allow them to offer distribution to clients for service providers all over the world. The new offering comes at a time in the music business when there is a heightened interest in services and distribution, with new companies flooding into the arena to offer new solutions for independent artists and labels and existing companies pivoting their business models towards non-ownership services offerings. Unlike many of those services, which sign deals with artists or allow them to upload to digital service providers for a flat fee, Supply Chain will allow companies to integrate its distribution offering into their own services, providing a back-end basis for their own offerings.
“The new Supply Chain product provides a tremendous amount of power, but does so with a very simple approach that is both flexible and recognizes that many partners will not want to build out their own UI,” said chief product officer Stephen White. “We have focused on making the product easy to integrate while not sacrificing any of the powerful functionality.”
Facebook parent Meta is slashing 10,000 jobs, about as many as the social media company announced late last year in its first round of cuts, as uncertainly about the global economy hits the technology sector particularly hard.
The company announced 11,000 job cuts in November, about 13% of its workforce at the time. In addition to the layoffs, Meta said Tuesday that it would not fill 5,000 open positions.
“This will be tough and there’s no way around that,” said CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Meta and other tech companies have been hiring aggressively for at least two years and in recent months have begun to let some of those workers go. Hiring in the U.S. is still strong, but layoffs have hit hard in some sectors.
Early last month, Meta posted falling profits and its third consecutive quarter of declining revenue. On the same day, the company said that it would buy back as much as $40 billion of its own stock.
The Menlo Park, company said Tuesday it will reduce the size of its recruiting team and make further cuts in its tech groups in late April, and then its business groups in late May.
Zuckerberg has invested tens of billions of dollars building out its metaverse, its virutal reality concept, and renamed the company Meta, signaling a new focus for Facebook.
“As I’ve talked about efficiency this year, I’ve said that part of our work will involve removing jobs — and that will be in service of both building a leaner, more technical company and improving our business performance to enable our long term vision,” said Zuckerberg.
The biggest tech companies in the U.S. are cutting costs elsewhere, too.
This month, Amazon paused construction on its second headquarters in Virginia following the biggest round of layoffs in the company’s history and its shifting plans around remote work.
Global inflation has remained stubborn and its made for more difficult decisions for both households and businesses in the U.S.
Fast growth companies, including many in the technology sector, are hunkering down for what may be an extended period of adverse economic conditions.
“At this point, I think we should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years,” Zuckerberg said in a message to employees.
Meta shares rose nearly 7% Tuesday.