Mark Zuckerberg apologized to employees as he announced sweeping layoffs at Meta.
"I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that," he told employees on Wednesday.
Meta said it plans to lay off around 11,000 employees, or 13% of staff, a layoff that had been widely expected in recent days.
Zuckerberg told employees that Meta had over-invested in recent years after the pandemic led to increased revenues thanks to surging online activity.
Instead of the continued revenue growth Meta predicted, Zuckerberg said the company had been hit by a macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ad revenue losses.
He said in the memo to employees: "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments. Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected."
Meta, formerly Facebook, has been struggling since its rebrand and continued investment in the metaverse. Since the rebrand in October 2021, the company's stock price has fallen around 70%, wiping billions from Zuckerberg's net worth.
In recent months, the company has tightened its belt, introducing hiring freezes and tougher performance metrics for employees.
Despite this, Zuckerberg said he still believes Meta is "deeply underestimated as a company today."
Representatives for Meta declined to comment.
