World

Meta slashes workforce by 11,000 as it sinks more money into the metaverse

Published

2 years ago

November 9, 2022

Meta slashes workforce by 11,000 as it sinks more money into the metaverse

Nov 9 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms Inc (META.O) stated on Wednesday it could reduce greater than 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its workforce, in one of many yr’s largest layoffs because the Fb mother or father battles hovering prices from its push into the metaverse amid a weak promoting market.

The mass layoffs, the primary in Meta’s 18-year historical past, comply with 1000’s of job cuts at different main tech corporations together with Elon Musk-owned Twitter and Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O).

The pandemic-led growth that boosted tech corporations and their valuations has was a bust this yr within the face of decades-high inflation and quickly rising rates of interest.

“Not solely has on-line commerce returned to prior developments, however the macroeconomic downturn, elevated competitors, and advertisements sign loss have brought on our income to be a lot decrease than I might anticipated,” Chief Govt Officer Mark Zuckerberg stated in a message to workers.

“I acquired this fallacious, and I take duty for that.”

The corporate additionally plans to chop discretionary spending and prolong its hiring freeze by way of the primary quarter. However it didn’t specify the impacted areas or the anticipated price financial savings from the strikes.

It now expects 2023 bills of as a lot as $100 billion, in contrast with as much as $100 billion beforehand, with extra of the sources being centered on areas similar to synthetic intelligence, advertisements, enterprise platforms and the metaverse.

PRICEY METAVERSE BET

Wall Road has been dropping persistence over Zuckerberg’s huge and experimental bets on his metaverse undertaking, a shared digital world, with one shareholder not too long ago calling the investments “super-sized and terrifying”.

Issues over the spending spree have wiped off greater than two-thirds of Meta’s market worth to this point this yr. However its shares rose 4.5% to $100.80 earlier than the bell on Wednesday.

“The market is respiratory a sigh of aid that Meta’s administration or Zuckerberg particularly appears to be heeding some recommendation, which is you should take among the steam out of the rising expenditure invoice,” Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates stated.

She, nonetheless, added that “it doesn’t fairly tally that you will try to improve effectivity concurrently chasing one thing as bold and as tenuous because the metaverse”.

Meta pays 16 weeks of base pay and two extra weeks for yearly of service, in addition to all remaining paid time without work as a part of the severance bundle, the corporate stated.

Impacted workers may also obtain their shares that had been set to vest on Nov. 15 and healthcare protection for six months, in keeping with Meta.

The corporate didn’t disclose the precise cost for the layoffs, however stated the determine was included in its beforehand introduced 2022 expense outlook of between $85 billion and $87 billion.

Meta had 87,314 workers as of the top of September.

Reporting by Aditya Soni, Nivedita Balu and Eva Mathews in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Shounak Dasgupta

Our Requirements: The Thomson Reuters Belief Rules.

Related Topics:ADVMK ADVMK1 AMERS BACT BLR CCOS CEN CMPNY CYCS CYCS08 DLI ENT Featured GEN HOT INT ITSE ITSE08 Job LAYOFS LIF MCE MDIA MDIA08 MOBAPP MTPIX MTVID NAMER NETSV NEWS1 PUB PUBL PXP RES RESF SMED SOCI SOCMED SOFW STX SWIT Tech TECH08 TMT TOPCMB TOPNWS us WWW

Click to comment

World

Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant

Published

2 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Italian state railways plans 1.3 bln euro investment in solar plant

Italian state railways Ferrovie dello Stato plans to invest 1.3 billion euros ($1.36 billion) in a photovoltaic plant with an initial 1 gigawatt (GW) capacity that would cover 19% of its energy needs by 2029, the CEO said in a newspaper interview.

World

Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more

Published

2 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Christmas in Puerto Rico is a 45-day celebration with caroling, festive decorations, family feasts and more

Christmas, Navidad in Puerto Rico, extends far beyond Dec. 25.

The island proudly proclaims itself as having the “longest holiday season in the world,” according to the website Discover Puerto Rico.

On average, the holiday festivities in Puerto Rico last about 45 days, per the source, commencing right after Thanksgiving, and stretching all the way through mid-January.

The Christmas season in Puerto Rico typically lasts around 45 days. (iStock)

HOW TO SAY ‘MERRY CHRISTMAS’ IN 10 LANGUAGES TO FRIENDS AROUND THE WORLD

The holiday season in Puerto Rico is full of rich traditions beloved by families.

One tradition those who visit Puerto Rico will immediately notice during the holiday season is decorations.

In Puerto Rico, decorations are typically put up by Thanksgiving, and kept up until the season concludes in mid-January, with opportune picture moments at every corner.

Parrandas, Christmas caroling, is a holiday staple.

17 SECRET TRAVEL TIPS FOR FALL AND WINTER THAT AREN’T SO SECRET AFTER ALL

Carolers choose houses of family and friends to visit, typically starting around 10 p.m., performing aguinaldos (traditional Christmas songs), with not only their voices, but often with instruments as well, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

The group you begin caroling with is likely not the same group you end with.

In Puerto Rico, when carolers visit a house, they’ll often stop inside for conversation, food and drink before moving to the next residence.

Coquito is a popular beverage enjoyed during the holiday season in Puerto Rico. Coconut, vanilla and rum are among the ingredients. (Mayra Beltran/Houston Chronicle via Getty Images)

Usually, the residences of the house visited will join the group for the next house, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

CHRISTMAS TREES IN GERMANY WERE DECORATED WITH APPLES INSTEAD OF ORNAMENTS IN THE 1600S FOR ‘ADAM AND EVE DAY’

A night of serenading loved ones can last quite a while, often stretching into the early morning hours of the following day, according to the source.

The biggest day of the holiday season in Puerto Rico actually isn’t Christmas, but instead, the night before.

In Puerto Rico, Dec. 24 is Nochebuena. On that day, loved ones gather for the exchange of gifts, caroling and a large feast.

Many families will also attend a midnight Mass on the day, known as Misa de Gallo.

FLIGHT ATTENDANTS REVEAL THE SURPRISING DAY TO TRAVEL AHEAD OF THE CHRISTMAS RUSH

After Christmas passes, the festivities go on in Puerto Rico.

Another big event in the holiday lineup is Three Kings Day on Jan. 6, a holiday that “commemorates the visit that the Three Wise Men paid to Jesus after his birth,” according to Discover Puerto Rico.

On the eve of the day, children fill up a shoebox with grass to be left for camels to munch on while the Three Kings leave behind gifts for them, according to PuertoRico.com.

For a particularly festive Three Kings Day, Juana Díaz is the place to go, as it hosts the largest celebration in Puerto Rico for the holiday. In Juana Díaz, there is an annual festival and parade in honor of Three Kings Day that brings together over 25,000 people every year, according to Discover Puerto Rico.

Gifts are primarily exchanged between loved ones on Christmas Eve in Puerto Rico. (iStock)

Then, eight days later is Octavitas, a post-holiday celebration where families get together and celebrate one last time for the season.

The end of the holiday season is marked with the San Sebastián Street Festival.

This festival, spanning over multiple days, takes place in Old San Juan, and is filled with live music, dancing, shopping and parades.

Ashlyn Messier is a writer for Fox News Digital.

World

Small plane crashes into Brazil town popular with tourists, killing 10

Published

3 hours ago

December 22, 2024

Press Room

Small plane crashes into Brazil town popular with tourists, killing 10

Twin-engine plane crashed in largely residential neighborhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff, authorities say.

A small plane has crashed into a tourist hotspot in southern Brazil, killing all 10 people on board and injuring more than a dozen people on the ground, officials have said.

The twin-engine Piper PA-42-1000 hit the chimney of a home and the second floor of a different house before crashing into a shop in a largely residential neighbourhood of Gramado shortly after takeoff from Canela, Brazil’s Civil Defense agency said on Sunday.

Rio Grande do Sul Governor Eduardo Leite told a news conference that the aircraft’s owner and pilot, Luiz Claudio Galeazzi, was killed along with nine members of his family.

Leite said that 17 people on the ground were injured, 12 of whom were still receiving treatment in hospital.

Galeazzi’s company, Galeazzi & Associados, confirmed that its CEO and Galeazzi’s wife and three daughters had died in the crash.

“Luiz Galeazzi will be forever remembered for his dedication to his family and for his remarkable career as a leader of Galeazzi & Associados,” the company said in a post on LinkedIn.

“In this moment of immense pain, Galeazzi & Associados is deeply grateful for the expressions of solidarity and affection received from friends, colleagues and the community. We also sympathize with all those affected by the accident in the region.”

Gramado, located in the Serra Gaucha mountains, is a popular destination for vacationers, especially during the Christmas season.

The crash comes a little more than a year after Brazil suffered its worst air disaster in nearly two decades when a twin-engine plane crashed in the southeastern city of Vinhedo, killing all 62 people on board.