Mark Zuckerberg had a slightly ominous message for employees in Meta's latest earnings release on Wednesday.
"Our management theme for 2023 is the 'year of efficiency,' and we're focused on becoming a stronger and more nimble organization," the Meta CEO said in the company's fourth quarter earnings release.
In November, the Big Tech company laid off more than 11,000 employees — the largest cull in the company's history. Zuckerberg said in an internal memo at the time that the layoffs were a "last resort."
But Meta's recent earnings release signals there could be more layoffs on the horizon.
The company said it spent over $3.7 billion on restructuring efforts in 2022, including severance payouts for employees, as well as the early termination of some of its office leases and the consolidation of its offices, to name a few.
In the coming year, Meta said it "may incur additional restructuring charges as we progress further in our efficiency efforts." The company noted it expects to record about $1 billion in restructuring charges in 2023 due to its efforts to consolidate its office footprint.
During Meta's earnings call, Zuckerberg commented further on the issue of layoffs.
"We closed last year with some difficult layoffs and when we did this, I said clearly that this was the beginning of our focus on efficiency and not the end," Zuckerberg said, adding the company plans to take further steps to remove some layers of middle management and equip engineers with more AI tools.
Insider's Kali Hays reported earlier this week that Meta employees have been bracing for another round of layoffs in recent weeks amid signs of more cost-cutting measures at the company. Last week, The Verge reported that Zuckerberg had said during a recent employee Q&A that he didn't want a "management structure that's just managers managing managers, managing managers, managing managers, managing the people who are doing the work" – another sign that layoffs could be eminent for middle managers at Meta.
A Meta spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment from Insider ahead of publication.
Overall, Meta's report beat Wall Street expectations, sending shares up more than 18% in extended trading. Meta had a lackluster year in 2022, losing over half of its value as investors began to express doubt in Zuckerberg's vision for the metaverse.
Meta is one of many tech companies to initiate a series of layoffs and cost-cutting moves amid fears of a recession.
