Mark Zuckerbeg Explains Why Tech Layoffs Are Happening. It's Not Because Of AI

Meta's CEO Mark Zuckerberg has tried to answer the question around why the tech layoffs aren't slowing own. Speaking Morning Brew Daily's podcast, Mr Zuckerberg said companies are finally realising that there are benefits to being "leaner". The tech entrepreneur also said that companies are still adjusting to the post-pandemic era and are bound to take the "painful" decisions. Mr Zuckerberg then talked about his leadership style, saying he doesn't believe in "delegating that much". The comments come at a time when not only giants like Google, Amazon and Microsoft are firing employees, small fintech and start-ups are also cutting their employee base.

"In terms of the layoffs and stuff like that, I actually think that was more due to companies trying to navigate Covid," Mr Zuckerberg told the podcast host when asked if tech layoffs had to do with the AI boom.

And this is not that companies are shrinking their employee size because of overhiring, but they are now realising that there can be benefits to being leaner, the Meta CEO added.

"It was obviously really tough, we parted with a lot of talented people we cared about. But in some ways actually becoming leaner kind of makes the company more effective," Mr Zuckerberg said while talking about layoffs at his company.

Meta announced several rounds of layoffs as part of Mr Zuckerberg's "year of efficiency" in which thousands of employees lost their jobs in the past few months. The company's headcount was 67,317 as of the end of 2023, which was a decrease of 22 per cent year-over-year.

He has also removed several management layers as part of his efficiency drive.

So far, some 32,000 tech workers have lost their jobs in 2024 according to Layoffs.fyi, a start-up that has been tracking job cuts in the industry since the pandemic.