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Things are looking up for Meta as shares climb after a year of job cuts

Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg apologises to families hurt by social media

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was questioned by US senators about the company’s child-protection measures, which saw the Facebook cofounder apologise to families impacted by social media. Photograph: Roberto Schmidt

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Sat Feb 3 2024 - 08:00

What a difference a year makes. In January 2023, Meta was staring down the barrell of “right sizing” its business. The company had already announced it would lay off 11,000 workers, and said it would embark on a year of efficiency to help sort out its business.

It hasn’t been a pleasant 12 months for the company. Following the initial lay-offs, Meta announced a further 10,000 jobs would go, adding up to more than 20 per cent of its workforce. That inevitably hit the Irish office, Meta’s European headquarters, where hundreds of staff have left the company.

But all that cost-cutting has paid off for Meta, if not for the staff who found themselves on the wrong side of the cuts. On Thursday, the company announced fourth-quarter earnings that kept investors happy, sealing the deal with plans for its first quarterly dividend. Patience is a virtue, and for shareholders that has finally been rewarded, to the tune of 50 cents per share.

It is a world away from the company that, as one investor said in an open letter in October 2022, had “drifted into the land of excess — too many people, too many ideas, too little urgency”.

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It also marks a departure from some Big Tech companies, who prefer to reinvest cash piles rather than divvy it out to shareholders.

It was not the only big day for Meta this week though. Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg was questioned by US senators about the company’s child-protection measures, which saw the Facebook cofounder apologise to families impacted by social media.

The hearings, which included plenty of soundbites from senators that are, ironically, suited to sharing on the social media platforms that they were there to hold to account.

But while Zuckerberg’s apology has been widely shared, again on social media, it will need to be backed up with something of substance if things really are to change.

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