Mass Layoffs at Meta and Elsewhere

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Rumored for weeks and coinciding with Twitter's own downsizing, Meta today announced they will let go of 13 percent of their workforce, or more than 11,000 employees, in one of the biggest layoffs this year as the Facebook parent battles soaring costs and a weak advertising market. 

 

The mass layoffs, first in Meta’s 18-year history, follow massive job cuts at other tech companies – not just Elon Musk-owned Twitter – but also at Microsoft, Chime, Intel, Lyft, Seagate, Snap Inc, Stripe and many others. In fact, as of late October, more than 52,000 workers in the US tech sector have been laid off in mass job cuts so far in 2022, according to a Crunchbase News tally. 

 

The pandemic-led boom that boosted tech companies and their valuations has turned into a bust this year. 

 

An Ebola update. Schools across Uganda will close two weeks before the scheduled end of term after 23 Ebola cases were confirmed among pupils, including eight children who died. 

 

Education Minister Janet Kataha Museveni (right) said on Tuesday that the cabinet had taken the decision to close preschools, primary schools and secondary schools on November 25 because densely packed classrooms were making students highly vulnerable to infection. [Note: Students in Uganda are currently in their third and final term of the calendar year]. 

 

On Saturday, the government extended a three-week lockdown on the neighboring districts of Mubende and Kassanda, which have been the center of the Ebola outbreak. The measures include a dusk-to-dawn curfew, a ban on personal travel, and the closure of markets, bars and churches. 

 

Since the outbreak was declared in Mubende on September 20, the disease has spread across the country, including to the capital, Kampala – but the president has said nationwide restrictions are not needed. 

 

According to government figures from Sunday, 135 people have been infected with Ebola and 53 have died.