A couple who both worked for Meta woke up to the same email telling them they'd been laid off

• A couple who both worked for Meta were each sent a layoff email by the Facebook owner.
• Jess White joined in November 2021 and only returned from parental leave about two months ago.

A couple who both worked for Meta woke up to the same email on Wednesday telling them they had been included in the mass layoffs by the Facebook and Instagram owner.

Jess White posted on LinkedIn on Wednesday to say that she and Anthony White were among the 11,000 employees losing their jobs.

Mark Zuckerberg announced that 11,000 staff, or 13% of its workforce, will depart in the cull. The Meta CEO apologized to those affected by the layoffs and said he wanted to "take accountability" for the decision: "I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that."

Jess White had worked at Meta as a technical sourcer in artificial intelligence since November last year, while Anthony White joined a month later as a technical sourcer, according to their LinkedIn profiles.

"This morning both Anthony White and I woke to emails that we were both part of Meta's 13% layoff. I have loved my time at Meta and really respect and appreciate everyone who I have worked with/for. That all being said I am #opentowork in talent sourcing roles," she wrote on LinkedIn.

Their layoffs came just eight weeks after Jess White posted on LinkedIn to say she was "excited" about returning from parental leave after six months and praised Meta's "progressive" parental leave policy.

Zuckerberg said in the announcement that staff will receive 16 weeks of pay as well as two weeks for each year of service. He also said Meta would offer "three months of career support" through an external company, which would include "early access" to jobs that have not been advertised yet.

Meta and Jess and Anthony White did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.