Mark Zuckerberg apologized for laying off 11,000 Meta staff, but Elon Musk didn't say sorry to Twitter workers who lost their jobs

• Meta announced 11,000 job cuts, equating to 13% of its workforce, on Wednesday.
• The layoffs come just days after Elon Musk sent blunt emails to half of Twitter's workforce.

More than 11,000 Meta employees are losing their jobs after mass layoffs were announced on Wednesday.

Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg apologised to employees and said the layoffs were a "last resort." He told staff: "I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that."

Meta has been struggling over the past year after pumping billions of dollars into its metaverse projects with limited returns. Since its rebrand from Facebook in October 2021, Meta's stock price has fallen by about 70%.

The cuts at Meta come after Lyft let go almost 700 workers, Stripe cut 14% of its staff, and Twitter axed half its workforce.

Twitter's mass layoffs, made just a week after Elon Musk's takeover, were announced in blunt emails and came without an apology from the new owner. Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey did say: "I own the responsibility for why everyone is in this situation: I grew the company size too quickly. I apologize for that."

In his memo, Zuckerberg promised clarity and clear communication: "There is no good way to do a layoff, but we hope to get all the relevant information to you as quickly as possible and then do whatever we can to support you through this.

"Everyone will get an email soon letting you know what this layoff means for you. After that, every affected employee will have the opportunity to speak with someone to get their questions answered and join information sessions."

That compares with Twitter employees receiving blunt emails titled "Your Role at Twitter" that stated: "Today is your last working day at the company."

Laid-off staff told Insider they had been left "in limbo" as the emails often omitted key details of proposed severance packages that seemed to differ by region.

'Say farewell'

Some Twitter staff also complained they had been suddenly and unexpectedly locked out of email and Slack on Thursday evening, ahead of official confirmation of anticipated layoff announcements on Friday.

Zuckerberg, however, told employees they would retain access to their email on Wednesday "so everyone can say farewell."

His memo also outlined the promised severance package laid-off employees could expect. Meta will offer US workers 16 weeks of base pay, plus 2 weeks for each year of service with no cap. Twitter employees have only been offered three months' pay.

Meta will also maintain healthcare coverage for laid-off employees and their families for six months, and offer three months of specialist career support with an external company.

Elon Musk has defended Twitter's mass layoffs — saying he had "no choice" but to cut thousands of workers as the company loses $4 million a day. He also emphasised that the 3 months of severance pay offered by Twitter is "more than legally required."

Florence Brocklesby, founder of employment law specialists Bellevue Law, said: "Twitter's handling of its current restructuring has shone a light on how redundancies in the tech sector should — and should not — be handled."

Meta declined to comment, and Twitter did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.