More than 700 Meta employees in Seattle, Bellevue expected to face layoffs

SEATTLE - More than 700 employees of Facebook parent company Meta are expected to face layoffs in Seattle and Bellevue, according to the Washington Employment Security Department.

ESD put out a notification alerting workers that, starting Jan. 13, 2023, Meta is expected to start rolling out layoffs. The agency says 419 Seattle employees and 307 Bellevue employees are projected to lose their jobs.

The layoffs come amid a faltering revenue and broader tech industry woes, CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote in a letter to employees Wednesday.

Meta, like other social media companies, enjoyed a financial boost during the pandemic lockdown era because more people stayed home and scrolled on their phones and computers. But as the lockdowns ended and people started going outside again, revenue growth began to falter.

An economic slowdown and a grim outlook for online advertising — by far Meta’s biggest revenue source — have contributed to Meta's woes. This summer, Meta posted its first quarterly revenue decline in history, followed by another, bigger decline in the fall.

Meta is laying off 11,000 employees, around 13% of their workforce.

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ESD says WorkSource staff will reach out to affected employees to ease the transition.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.