'I take full responsibility': Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg in leaked clip on axing 11,000 jobs

A video of Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has emerged on social media where he is heard saying laying off 11,000 people or 13 per cent of the tech firm's workforce was the hardest decision he had to make in the 18 years of the running of the company.

In the leaked video, Zuckerberg also takes full responsibility for the decision. He said that the Meta is losing people who put their heart and soul into it.

"I know there must be a range of different emotions. I want to say, upfront, I take full responsibility for this decision. I am the founder and CEO and I'm responsible for the health of our company, for direction, and for deciding how we execute that including things like this," Zuckerberg was heard saying in the clip.

"And, this ultimately my call, and it was one of the hardest calls that I had to make in the 18 years of running the company,” he added. The clip was accessed by the American business news channel CNBC.

Zuckerberg said that Meta is losing people who had put their hearts and soul into this space and had a role in making Meta a success.

"No matter how hard it is, obviously it has a big impact on your lives. But also for our mission, we are losing people who put heart and soul into this place. Each of you is talented and passionate and each of you has played a role in making Meta this success that it is. And, no matter what team you may have worked on, each of you played a role in contributing to the products that billions of people used to connect every day,” he added.

Facebook parent Meta axes 11,000 jobs

Meta on Wednesday announced laying off 11,000 employees, which is 13 per cent of its workforce. This development comes months after Meta posted its first quarterly revenue loss in history, followed by another, bigger decline in the fall.

In a letter to employees, Zuckerberg said, "I've decided to reduce the size of our team by about 13 per cent and let more than 11,000 of our talented employees go. We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1."