Facebook parent Meta laying off over 220 workers in Austin as part of national cuts

Facebook's parent company Meta Platforms is laying off more than 220 workers in Austin, documents filed with the state show, as the tech giant moves to cut thousands of jobs across the country. Meta said in early November that it planned to shed 11,000 jobs, or 13% if its workforce, but didn't provide details about where those cuts would occur. At the time, the company declined to comment on how many Austin-area workers would be affected. Documents released by the Texas Workfor Commssion on Monday show that a total of 222 workers at four Austin facilities will lose their jobs. The details were inlcuded in a WARN letter — short for Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act — which is a federally mandated notice an employer must provide to state governments in the event of major layoffs.

The titles of impacted positions were redacted on the WARN notice, but indicate a range of positions and departments were affected. The letter also said the employees were in four office locations, two in downtown Austin, one in the Domain, and one in the Tech ridge area. The WARN notice said the 222 employees will no longer be with the company as of Jan. 13, and that the separations would be permanent. Employees were previously notified. Meta had more than 2,000 employees in Austin across a number of Facebook departments, and the company had been growing swiftly over the past several years in Central Texas. Meta is also the parent of Instagram, Whatsapp and Meta Quest. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the company's plan for layoffs in a letter earlier this month, addressed to employees. It cited declines in the company's revenue and wider problems in the technology sector. He also said the reductions will impact all sectors of the company. Employees were also expected to receive 16 weeks of pay plus two additional weeks per year of service, and six months of health insurance.