According to The Information, Instagram has slashed 60 technical program manager roles, removing part of its management. The affected workers have two months to seek out other corporate roles. Their job will be terminated after two months if they cannot find a new career.
A former Instagram employee said on LinkedIn that certain technical program managers may be forced to “re-interview for PM roles” or project manager responsibilities.
An official from Meta refused to comment on the layoffs. The representative pointed Eltrys to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s March 2023 blog post on the company’s “Year of Efficiency,” in which he pledged to improve financial performance and reduce staff. 
The information says that Instagram has also informed staff of a product team restructure, which would establish three new emphasis areas for the team that helps users create and share content on the social network. Creation, creators, and friend sharing are new focal areas.
Instagram will prioritize producers who are most likely to engage teens. Instagram wants to concentrate on producers who can maintain adolescent audiences, but more than 40 states are suing Meta, arguing that its services are causing mental health issues with underage users.
The complaint claims that Meta has “profoundly altered the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans” and uses “powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens” over the last decade.
X (previously Twitter), TikTok, Snap, and Discord will testify before the Senate on child safety on January 31, and Meta is focusing on adolescent participation. Committee members will question company leaders about their platforms’ online kid protection failures.
Meta is still under regulatory pressure, but Instagram is still focused on adolescent engagement and retention.
Meta’s new adolescent safety enhancements may be intended to placate politicians. Meta said this week that it will automatically block adolescent Instagram and Facebook posts. Teen accounts will be blocked from viewing self-harm, graphic violence, and eating disorder messages.
