Mark Zuckerberg

Mark Zuckerberg told staff that Meta is also looking to ditch about 5,000 open job vacancies as part of a push to slash costs and restructure the firm.

The layoffs come as Meta's biggest platforms have come under pressure from sites such as TikTok while the firm has also spent billions developing the metaverse.

The former deputy prime minister will sit alongside company founder Mark Zuckerberg in level of seniority at Facebook's newly rebranded Meta.