Meta’s Chief Business Officer Marne Levine, Appointed in 2021, Leaves Company

Meta Platforms said on Monday Chief Business Officer Marne Levine was leaving the owner of Facebook after a 13-year stint.

Fifty-two-year-old Levine, appointed as the company’s first chief business officer in 2021, has served in various other executive positions at the social media company, including chief operating officer of Instagram.

The company said it expanded Nicola Mendelsohn’s role as head of global business group and named Justin Osofsky as head of online sales, operations and partnerships, in the wake of Levine’s imminent departure.

Mendelsohn will handle the company’s relationships with top marketers and agencies for all of its apps, while Osofsky will be leading sales and operations focused on growing small- and medium-sized businesses on Meta’s platforms.

The changes come at a time when Meta has promised to cut costs by $5 billion (nearly Rs. 41,320 crore) in the year to a range of $89 billion (nearly Rs. 7,35,450 crore) to $95 billion (nearly Rs. 7,85,000 crore), calling 2023 the “Year of Efficiency”.

A few days back, it was reported that Meta has asked many of its managers and directors to transition to individual contributor jobs or leave the company.

The process is known internally as a “flattening,” the people said. Individual contributors aren’t in charge of others, and instead focus on tasks like coding, designing and research.

Back in November, Meta — owner of Facebook and Instagram — fired 13 percent of its workforce in November during its first major layoff. Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg explained during the company’s earnings report that he still felt the organisation was too slow-moving and bloated. He called 2023 the “Year of Efficiency” and vowed to cut middle-managers and underperforming projects.

In January, Meta announced the appointment of Vikas Purohit as the director of Meta’s Global Business Group in India to lead the strategy and delivery of the charter, focused on the country’s largest advertisers and agency partners.