Social media companies announce layoffs

Facebook and Instagram’s parent company Meta announced Wednesday it is laying off about 13 percent of its workforce, almost a week after Twitter announced it laid off about half of its staff. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he had hired aggressively during the pandemic, anticipating continued growth, but that rate had slowed once people could go outside. Snap, the owner of Snapchat, laid off 1,000 workers in August—roughly 20 percent of its staff. 

Where is Musk taking Twitter? Twitter CEO Elon Musk sent an email last week to employees saying they must return to the office for at least 40 hours a week starting immediately. He told employees that his priority over the previous 10 days had been to launch the company’s new subscription service. The subscription is $7.99 a month and includes a blue check mark next to the name of members—something previously reserved for verified accounts. 

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report in The Stew on Musk buying Twitter.