Meta is reportedly conducting 'quiet layoffs' at Facebook that may lead to thousands of job cuts -- at least 12,000 or about 15 per cent of its workforce.

According to a report in Insider, the senior executives are in the process of executing "quiet layoffs" of underperforming workers.

Several employees told Insider that as much as 15 per cent of the workforce could be cut within the next few weeks. This means that some 12,000 employees could be out of jobs soon.

"It might look like they are moving on, but the reality is they are being forced out," the employee told Insider.

Facebook employees are bracing for layoffs for months since the social networking giant announced a hiring freeze.

At its peak, Meta's stock price approached $380 per share. But in the last year, the company share price has nosedived 60 per cent.

Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has made it clear that the social network is freezing hiring across the board, warning that more layoffs are in the pipeline.

According to reports, Zuckerberg made these comments during an internal call to employees.

Zuckerberg mentioned during the last Meta earnings call that "Our plan is to steadily reduce headcount growth over the next year. Many teams are going to shrink so we can shift energy to other areas."

In May, Zuckerberg announced a hiring freeze affecting certain segments of Meta.

However, he has now expanded the hiring freeze across departments and verticals.

Facebook's parent company Meta is currently reducing staff to cut costs amid the economic downturn, apparently putting some of them on traditional 30 to 60 days "lists" to find a new role within the company or leave.

Meta has a "long practice" where employees whose roles are eliminated are subject to termination if they can't find a new job internally within a month.

As Big Tech companies lay off employees and freeze new hirings, Zuckerberg said in July that the company's plan is to steadily reduce headcount growth over the next year.

Admitting that the social network has entered an economic downturn that will have a broad impact on the digital advertising business, Zuckerberg said that many "teams are going to shrink so we can shift energy to other areas inside the company".