Meta (Facebook’s parent company) is currently going through the worst mass layoffs in its 18-year history. Around 11,000 employees are being impacted by it after being fired over an email.
Earlier, an IITian who flew to Canada to work with the social media giant was shown the door just two days after his joining. Now, a woman on maternity leave was scrapped from the company.
Taking to LinkedIn, the woman named Anneka Patel, who was a communications manager at Facebook, shared that she came to know that she was also impacted by the Meta layoffs at 5:35 am via an automated email.
“This morning I found out I was one of the 11,000 employees impacted by the Meta #layoffs. This hit me hard as I’m currently out on maternity leave.”
Patel, who is currently on maternity leave, goes on to pen that she got THE email when she woke up in the morning to feed her three-month-old baby girl.
“I woke up at 3 am to pump for my three-month-old baby girl, Emilia. I checked my work email as I was anticipating the email from Mark Zuckerberg about the layoffs and there it was, but there were no details about which teams or who was impacted. Emilia woke up at 4 am so I nursed her and at 4:30 am I got a text from my manager that she had been laid off. I put Emilia back down to sleep at 4:45 am and sat there wondering what to do next. I lay in bed, refreshing my emails, and talking to other coworkers, all of us on the edge of our seats about whether we would be impacted, or commiserating with those who had already been notified. One of my coworkers said the automated emails were being sent out from then until 7 am so I was in two minds about whether to go back to sleep or stay up. Then at 5:35 am, I got the email that I had been included in the layoffs. My heart sank.” (sic)
Working at Facebook (now Meta) has been her dream ever since she moved from London to the Bay Area nine years ago.
“It’s been an incredible 2.5 years working on the Facebook Groups product, which I truly think is the best part of Facebook. People would ask if it was tough working there with all the bad press, but I would tell them that I was lucky because I got to tell the good stories about the amazing Facebook groups out there, and the work these community leaders are doing to help change the lives of others. I am so grateful and thankful to everyone I worked with for making my time there so special.” (sic)
She’s now clueless about what’s in store for her ahead as her maternity leave is due to end in February.
“So, what’s next? That’s a tough one to answer. My maternity leave is due to end in February and while these first few months of motherhood have been some of the most challenging of my life, I wouldn’t have traded them for the world. I’m going to continue to dedicate my time to my daughter over the next few months and will be #opentowork in the New Year. While that’s a difficult decision to make knowing that it’s a competitive market out there with all the other tech layoffs, I know I’ll never get this time back with her.” (sic)
She ended her note by asking people to refer her and notify her if there’s any job that suits her role. She would be able to start fresh the next year.
“With that being said, if in the New Year you see a #communications role that looks perfect for me, please refer me or send it my way. Meta lost so many talented individuals today and I am thinking about everyone who was impacted. If I can make introductions to anyone in my network, I would be more than happy to.”
People online were sweet enough to stand by her side in these testing times and assured her that something positive will definitely come out of it.
This is heartbreaking but don’t lose hope, Aneeka. If one door closes, another window definitely opens. Stay positive.
Image source: right