Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, yesterday announced that it will axe 13% of its workforce.
The first mass lay-offs in the group’s history will result in 11,000 employees losing their jobs from a worldwide headcount of 87,000.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said the cuts were "the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history".
The BBC says the news follows major lay-offs at Twitter, which cut about half its staff, and other tech firms.
"I know this is tough for everyone, and I'm especially sorry to those impacted," he wrote in a statement.
Mr Zuckerberg blamed the need for the job cuts on massive long-term expectations for growth based on the firm's rise in revenue during the pandemic.
Permanent acceleration
"Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration," he wrote, "I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments."
Instead he said "macroeconomic downturn" and "increased competition" caused revenue to be much lower than expected
"I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that," he said.
The announcement of job cuts was widely expected.
Mr Zuckerberg told hundreds of Meta executives of the plans on Tuesday.
He said the company would focus on high-priority growth areas, like artificial intelligence, advertising, and "our long-term vision for the metaverse".
Cutting costs
Meta will also cut costs elsewhere - including reducing its spending on buildings and offices, and increasing desk-sharing.
Shares in the group plunged more than 20% at the end of last month after a downbeat set of results.
It came as investor doubts grow about Mr Zuckerberg's vision for the future, and revenues and profits declined.
Meta's sales shrank by 4% in the three months ending in September to £24billion, while profits halved.
A year ago, Mr Zuckerberg declared virtual reality the next frontier to drive Facebook's growth. But, so far, there has been very little of it.
The company is struggling as companies cut advertising budgets in the face of economic uncertainty, changes to Apple's privacy settings hurt its targeted ads, and competition from rivals such as TikTok heats up.
Mr Zuckerberg, who founded Facebook at university almost two decades ago, acknowledged the firm faced "near-term challenges".