Meta, formerly Facebook, once seemed an impenetrable fortress, but it's now showing big cracks.
Why it matters: These problems run deeper than the current ad slowdown and won't be fixed by big layoffs announced Wednesday.
Driving the news: Meta said it will lay off 11,000 jobs, or 13% of its staff.
What's happening: While many other big tech companies are making or considering job cuts, Meta faces major structural challenges that predate this year's economic downturn — and now need to be addressed by a smaller, potentially demoralized staff.
Signs of slowed momentum have been surfacing for months.
The big picture: Meta has been investing heavily in a years-off metaverse future, while scrapping forays into cryptocurrency, gaming and live shopping.
Between the lines: Meta's old playbook for dealing with setbacks and challenges isn't working any more.
"Meta is amidst an identity crisis," Forrester research director Mike Proulx said in a statement. "The company has one foot in a risky long-term metaverse bet and another foot failing to compete with TikTok."
Yes, but: CEO Mark Zuckerberg, in a message announcing Wednesday's layoffs, told workers Meta had become a "deeply underestimated" company.
What's next: Meta still faces all the same problems that it has failed to address in recent years — only now with less ad revenue and a smaller staff worried about job security.
Editor's note: This story has been updated with Mark Zuckerberg's comment.