Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is reportedly planning to reduce its office space as it renegotiates its tenancy agreement at the Kings Tower building in Ikoyi, Lagos. The move is part of a broader strategy to streamline operations and adapt to new work patterns.
Meta confirmed in a statement that it regularly reviews its office space to ensure it meets the business’s needs, including those of its Nigerian office. “As we shrink our real estate footprint, we’re transitioning to desk sharing for people who already spend most of their time outside the office,” the statement read.
This decision comes on the heels of a significant layoff affecting about 35 employees in Nigeria, including the entire engineering team of up to 24 people. According to TechCabal, Meta’s engineering support for the region will now be provided from several global engineering hubs outside Nigeria.
In April 2023, Meta announced a mass layoff of up to 4,000 employees across its technical teams, which included those working on Facebook, Instagram, Reality Labs, and WhatsApp. This announcement followed Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s February 2023 declaration of plans to cut 10,000 more jobs, a continuation of a similar decision made in November 2022.
Despite these reductions, Meta emphasized that its commitment to Nigeria remains strong. “We are firmly committed to Nigeria and are making focused, balanced investments to support our most strategic long-term priorities,” the company stated.
This development mirrors actions taken by other tech giants in Nigeria. For instance, in May 2024, Microsoft announced that the recent closure of its engineering team at the Microsoft Africa Development Centre (ADC) in Lagos would not affect Microsoft Nigeria’s operations, which continue to handle product and service sales, marketing, and support.
Additionally, during a recent visit to Nigeria, Nick Clegg, Meta’s President of Global Affairs, highlighted the company’s ongoing support for local content creators. He announced that Nigerian content creators would be able to monetize their content through new options and features released in June 2024, further illustrating Meta’s commitment to the region.