Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has revealed plans to initiate a fresh round of employee layoffs next week, according to executives who held a Q&A session with employees on Thursday. 

While Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg had previously hinted at forthcoming layoffs in May, the exact timing was confirmed during the meeting. Vox reported that the layoffs would predominantly target Meta's business departments and could potentially impact a significant number of employees.

Vox obtained a recording of a company-wide meeting in which Nick Clegg, Meta's president of global affairs, expressed that the current situation is characterized by significant anxiety and uncertainty. Clegg stated, "It’s just a time of great anxiety and uncertainty... I wish I could have some easy way of providing solace or comfort."

Clegg also disclosed that the upcoming layoff process would resemble the approach taken during the April cuts, which resulted in the elimination of 4,000 positions from Meta's technology departments. 

Prior to the layoffs, Meta's head of people will communicate specific information regarding timing, affected teams, and impacted employees. The notifications will be initially provided to the affected employees, followed by the non-impacted ones.

Although company executives did not explicitly disclose the exact scale of this particular round of layoffs, Mark Zuckerberg had previously announced in March that Meta intended to eliminate 10,000 positions by the end of May, following an initial reduction of 11,000 positions in November. 

In the preceding month, Meta had already cut around 4,000 positions, leaving approximately 6,000 positions potentially at risk in this forthcoming round. As of the end of 2022, Meta employed approximately 86,000 individuals.