Meta, Twitter layoffs: Mark Zuckerberg says he has been more thoughtful about layoffs than Elon Musk

It has been a tough time for those employed at major tech giants across the world amid mass layoffs. Tech giants like Twitter and Facebook have drawn criticism for being thoughtless for reducing their workforce in the face of recession fears. People have been sharing their ordeal how the layoffs have impacted them. 

On November 9, Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, declared that it would cut 13 per cent of its workforce. Earlier, microblogging site Twitter announced massive (about 50 per cent) layoffs after Tesla CEO Elon Musk took over the operations. Twitter has cut down 50 per cent of its workforce globally, including nearly 90 per cent of employees in India. 

Although Twitter has reduced its working staff by 50 per cent, Meta's layoffs is considered to be bigger and more impactful due to its huge workforce.  

But Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said that he has been more thoughtful and handled the situation better than Musk. At a company townhall meeting held on Friday, Zuckerberg said Musk hadn't had the time to plan the layoffs as thoughtfully as Meta and other companies did, a report in The Insider reported said. 

"I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here," Zuckerberg told his staff. "I know this is tough for everyone, and I'm especially sorry to those impacted." 

In a letter addressed to its employees, Zuckerberg described the layoffs as "the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history". 

Layoffs at Twitter 

Musk, after taking charge of Twitter operation since the last week of October, has been trying to change entire setup by booting top executives, slashing headcount by 50 per cent, charging users for verification check mark, and others.  

The Tesla CEO has been under severe criticism about how he has handled the situation and sacking l employees without formal communication. Twitter even blocked access to its offices and told workers to wait at home for communication from the company. 

Layoffs and worries 

Besides Twitter and Meta, other tech companies, such as Apple Inc., Amazon.com Inc. and Alphabet Inc., have said they will pause hiring or cut jobs amid inflation and fears of recession. Many voices have said the companies are in a higher-risk environment, which is making them spend less to grow their businesses.   

According to a Bloomberg report, data from consulting firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas has highlighted that the tech sector also shed 9,587 jobs in October, the highest monthly total since November 2020. The report further stated that the total job cuts announced by US-based employers for the past month, meanwhile, are also up, by a marked 13 per cent - with 33,843 fired from various roles across dozens of companies.