Ex-Meta employee still jobless after 200 days, shares ‘terrifying’ possibility

In March, Meta began a fresh round of layoffs, seeking to eliminate 10,000 jobs, mostly in non-engineering roles.

A LinkedIn post shared by a former Meta employee, Susan Dutter, is going viral, in which she shared her plight of still being jobless after getting laid off by the technology giant 200 days ago. Dutter, who formerly worked as a senior recruiting lead at Meta, said on Tuesday that she never imagined she would be without a job for so long.

The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium.(REUTERS)

“It’s been 201 days since I was impacted by Meta’s layoffs. I have been grinding everyday to find new employment. I never imagined 6 1/2 months later I would still not have a new role. But here I am…” Dutter wrote, highlighting it can be tough to sustain life without a job for such a long time.

She went on to say, "Not knowing if it will last another 6 months is terrifying. I’m hopeful that my 20+ years of impactful recruiting will lead me into my next role. I miss working, I miss collaborating on projects and building relationships".

She appealed to her LinkedIn network for any potential leads that might assist her in her job search.

10,000 laid off since March

In March, Meta began a fresh round of layoffs, seeking to eliminate 10,000 jobs, mostly in non-engineering roles. This process began with hitting the recruiting teams, followed by another round of layoffs in April when 4,000 roles were eliminated.

The March announcement paralleled the size of Meta's previous round of layoffs in November last year, which had seen 11,000 employees being let go. The cuts brought the company's headcount down to where it stood as of about mid-2021.

Meta Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg had said in March that the layoffs would happen in three rounds, largely finishing by May. He had also pledged to restructure business teams "substantially" and return to a "more optimal ratio of engineers to other roles."