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At least 10 employees in Singapore have so far been affected by the mass layoffs at social media giant Meta.

The Straits Times reported this headcount reduction after speaking with its sources and counting LinkedIn posts.

Some 11,000 workers, or about 13 per cent of Facebook’s parent firm’s 87,000-strong global workforce, will be cut.

It is not known how many employees are working at Meta's Singapore office at the moment, but ST reported in 2018 that there were over 1,000 employees here.

Meta’s Asia-Pacific headquarters is located in Singapore’s Marina Bay financial district.

The final tally of jobs cut in the Singapore office is likely to go up.

Nov. 10 (Singapore timing) marked the first day employees here know if they got cut.

Took to LinkedIn

Those affected who posted on LinkedIn on Thursday said they were informed about being cut via email.

A public LinkedIn post by Syahid Ismail, who identified himself as a business integrity escalations specialist at Meta wrote:

As I was getting ready to head out to the office today, I decided to check my emails and rotation schedule as I would, any other day. That's when I saw the dreaded email and the biggest fear of my career come true. I'm one of those affected by the #metalayoffs.

It was truly heart and gut wrenching to have a dream come true expire prematurely. Only 3 months in, I certainly have much more to offer and to prove to myself. I think the reality has yet to sink in as I'm still thinking of what I have to do at work today for a job that I no longer have. Alas, this is life and I will move on.

I have faith that no matter how bitter a pill this is to swallow, this is part of the larger plan God has in store for me. I will take heart in the fact that I got the opportunity once, and with grace, will and drive, more doors will open for another amazing opportunity with God's will.

If any of you kind souls know of an opportunity that is suitable for me, please do let me know. Help me get a second chance to score a dream job.

The #metalayoffs hashtag was used by those who were cut and by others offering support.

Another staff affected was Alex Fenby, head of news partnerships in South-east Asia.

He had worked at Meta for four years.

He wrote on LinkedIn:

Today I was let go by #Meta as part of mass layoffs. This is a first in my career and presents a whole new set of emotions to work through.

The past four years at Meta have been nothing short of life changing, professionally and personally so rewarding. I am so grateful to have worked with so many brilliant and inspirational people, both colleagues and partners, and on so many impactful initiatives that I hope contributed positively to the APAC (and global) news and media ecosystem. My gratitude runs very, very deep.

I want to thank the Meta News Partnerships and XFN teams - leaders, reports and colleagues. Those who are still there... I know you'll continue to make a huge impact; those who have unfortunately been let go... your future employers are going to be so, so lucky to have you.

I close this chapter having learnt so much and made many many friends.

Needless to say, I'm excited to explore what might come next.

Another staff, Rebecca O., who posted on LinkedIn after being laid off, wrote:

A bitter ending to a sweet journey. Never thought I’d not get to post a badge post - yes, I was one of the few people that got let go from the APAC Policy team today at #Meta (A "badge post" is usually a reflection/appreciation post and what you’ll do next you do when you leave Facebook).

To make the almost-four-years at Meta departure complete, here’s what I absolutely loved about my job:

Interacting with passionate people who use our tools to build communities – Whether they’re from government or politics, from the young savvy ones to the older ones who are trying to figure out what’s the difference between a Page and a personal profile - I enjoyed these moments, whether it’s the big glam sharing on stage or the post-event moment or email where I have to problem solve with them – I loved learning from these people, and sharing with them ways tech can build communities and the impact it can create.

Solving issues that have real world impact – After joining the company, I realized truly the extent the impact the platform has on people’s lives (well, in some communities more than others) and why our work around integrity on the platform is so important. I was very fortunate to be able to work on some of the most important issues with a diversity of teams – from protecting Election integrity in markets like Myanmar to our work to ensure we are supporting communities during the COVID-19 period. For those of you who think that Meta is an evil company (I see where you’re coming from!) but just know that there is a bunch of passionate good people (might be tinier now) trying to problem-solve and ensure the platform/technology is good for the world.

The PEOPLE (yes, normal people but in caps) – I got the opportunity to meet so many amazing, talented, and open people (we call them “XFN” or cross functional teams) during my stint here. Many have been so generous with their time, sharing and care during my time here. I have learnt so much and so much to be thankful for; some have become really good friends. That is truly and will be one of the best things that happened to me here (can’t tag people here because there are many and probably also, I’d start tearing up). Thank you for everyone who knew my fate and reached out to me with words of comfort, appreciation and even cried with me.

To everyone who got impacted, whether you’re in Meta (or another tech company) – I got reminded by a Chinese fable around “The old man lost his horse "塞翁失馬，焉知非福”

As to what I’ll do next – no idea. But what I know is that, I look forward to spending time to reflect, take stock of life, travel & be in nature (that Chile trip), and do long overdue catch-ups and since year-end is coming, spend some quality time with loved ones.

Those let go include recruiters and employees involved in product management and the gaming division.

Global tech firms, such as Twitter and Microsoft have been cutting jobs lately.

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