Zuckerberg grilled at staff meeting after announcing Meta’s firing

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg was put to the test by staff at a meeting with all hands on Thursday, following the Facebook parent company’s announcement that it would lay off an additional 10,000 employees.

According to The Washington Post, employees are said to have asked Zuckerberg how they can trust the company’s leadership after the surprise second round of layoffs.

“I suspect the way people would judge whether you trust me and want to work at this company is whether we manage to make progress toward overall goals,” Zuckerberg said, according to the Post, while also acknowledging that “it’s a fair question.”

Zuckerberg announced Tuesday that Meta would cut 10,000 jobs and close 5,000 open positions, citing a “tough economic environment” amid high interest rates and geopolitical instability.

“At this point, I think we need to prepare for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years to come,” Zuckerberg said. “Higher interest rates lead to a leaner economy, more geopolitical instability leads to more volatility, and more regulation leads to slower growth and higher innovation costs.”

The additional round of layoffs comes after Meta’s CEO told employees earlier in November that the massive cuts were made in an effort to “minimize the likelihood of broad layoffs like this in the near future,” the Post reported.