It appears that one of the world's biggest and most influential tech companies is about to get smaller.
For the time in its history, Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is reportedly about to announce large-scale layoffs.
Workers are nervous that business could slow down considerably after the Wall Street Journal reported that the Menlo Park company could announce thousands of layoff as soon as this Wednesday.
That will have a ripple effect for the entire community because fewer employees at Facebook means fewer customers looking for lunch at local restaurants.
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“Definitely the foot traffic,” said Sara Torres, general manager of the Back A Yard Caribbean Grill. “We get a lot of business from Facebook and their employees as well as other companies around here so, you know, it starts with one, and could possibly fall on another company and it definitely affects business, yeah.”
Facebook would just be the latest in a string of more than a dozen high profile tech companies to announce layoffs in recent weeks.
One longtime Menlo Park resident who said they have many friends and family at Facebook, said it’s strange to see the company struggle.
“The business started growing, the economy got better, but right now I notice a lot of people, they’re nervous, feeling stressed, because they don’t know what’s going on at the job,” said Victoria.
Santa Clara University Assistant Professor of Economics Audrey Guo says Facebook could face long-term problems since there is now a lot more competition for the advertising dollars that they depend on.
But she also points out the overall impact on employment could depend on other companies.
“Their large size will have an impact. Whether I think for a lot of other companies, this just may be an opportunity to be able to fill a lot of vacant positions and hire, you know, qualified worries that they wouldn’t otherwise be able to,” said Guo.
Meta hasn’t confirmed the layoff reports, meaning thousands of workers are in the same spot as local businesses -- wondering what will happen next.
