Some Meta employees are blaming Mark Zuckerberg for his 'poor leadership and mismanagement' amid layoffs of 11,000 staffers
- Meta laid off 11,000 people on Wednesday.
- These were the first mass layoffs in the company's 18-year history.
Meta laid off 11,000 people on Wednesday.
That's more than about a third of the population of Los Altos, California — the posh Silicon Valley suburb that's likely home to many of Meta's higher-ups.
Employees' heads are reeling from the sheer scale of the layoffs, Insider reported Thursday.
"People really didn't expect layoffs at that scale, even after the news," one employee who was spared from the layoffs told Insider. "Going above 10,000 was definitely more than I had in mind, and more than people had in mind."
Those who didn't survive the layoffs are attributing them to Zuckerberg's poor leadership. One employee sarcastically called Zuckerberg a "class act" to Insider. Another told Insider they "couldn't even bring themselves to log in."
One of the points of contention between Zuckerberg and former employees is his focus on the metaverse. One impacted worker told Insider that "there's too much focus on metaverse and Reality Labs."
A former recruiter at the company even said, "It took very poor leadership and mismanagement to get us in this position."
At least for Zuckerberg, his remaining employees are more forgiving. One told Insider that the 38-year-old CEO "clearly appeared emotional" while addressing his new, downsized lot.
"I could hear his voice crack a little bit when he talked about it," they added.