Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will reduce its office space in Lagos, Nigeria after global layoffs in mid-2023 affected its Nigerian team.
At least 35 people were affected by those layoffs, three people with knowledge of the matter said. The company’s engineering team, which had 24 employees according to a 2022 report, was laid off.
“Engineers continue to serve the region from a number of our global engineering hubs outside of Nigeria,” a company spokesperson told TechCabal, declining to specify how many Nigerian employees were affected by 2023 layoffs that reduced global headcount by 20,000.
The reduction in team size has prompted the social media giant to begin renegotiating its tenancy agreement for its office space in the 15-story Kings Tower building in Ikoyi, Lagos. A key part of that renegotiation will be to reduce its office space. Per one publication, Kings Tower has an asking price of $800/sqm/per annum.
“We regularly review our office spaces to ensure they suit the needs of the business, and the office in Nigeria is no different,” Meta said in a statement.
“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.”
While Meta rejects any characterisation of the decision as scaling back, it is a remarkable about-face for a company that has consistently invested in Nigeria and has spoken about prioritising the West African nation.
Follow the MoneyCentral Nigeria channel on WhatsApp: Click here!
