Facebook employees react to being laid off

Happy Thursday, readers. I'm your host, Jordan Parker Erb. I'm spending a few days away at a conference, so I'll be leaving you in the capable hands of Insider's Matt Weinberger for the next week. I'll see you soon.

The major story today is the continued fallout from Meta's layoffs. After the company let go thousands of employees on Wednesday, some took to social media to discuss being fired and search for new jobs. Others sat down with Insider to describe the emotional experience.

We've got all of this, and more, below.

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1. Meta employees are taking to social media to discuss layoffs. After the company laid off more than 11,000 workers, some are turning to LinkedIn or Twitter to share their accounts of the layoffs and search for new jobs.

• One former Meta recruiter, Brianna Sgro, took to LinkedIn to announce she was fired and wrote: "I'm sad, hurt, uncertain, disappointed, and now jobless."
• Another recruiter, who said their team was "decimated," told Insider that it's been difficult to walk away from their dream job — but that Mark Zuckerberg "handled it with humanity."
• Zuckerberg apologized to laid-off staffers, taking responsibility for over-investing in the years following the pandemic. His apology strikes a noticeable contrast to Elon Musk's approach to layoffs at Twitter. You can read Zuck's apology here.
• Laid-off employees will get 16 weeks of base pay, plus two weeks for each year of service, meaning someone with five years service at Meta will receive around six months worth of pay. Here's what we know about Meta's severance packages.

Read what else laid-off Meta employees are saying.

In other news:

2. Hollywood insiders share their ideal places to sell a TV show. We spoke with 14 agents, showrunners, producers, and creatives, who ranked the streamers they'd like to see buy a show. From HBO Max to Apple TV+, here are their picks.

3. That was quick: Binance walked away from its deal with FTX. After reviewing FTX's finances, Binance decided not to pursue the acquisition. Here's the latest.

4. Elon Musk has sold nearly $4 billion worth of Tesla shares. Regulatory filings show Musk sold 19.5 million of the company's shares following his $44 billion Twitter buyout. What we know so far.

5. Microsoft's former VP of HR shares three questions job candidates can use to nail an interview. The former exec said candidates who leave the best impressions are masters at "flipping the interview," by asking strong questions. See three of his favorite questions to ask.

6. How much does YouTube pay its talent? YouTube is hiring for dozens of US jobs, including one position that pays up to $425,000. We analyzed job listings to figure out how much the company pays engineers, product managers, analysts, and more. How much you could make at YouTube.

7. This little-known Twitter exec has the toughest job in advertising right now. While leading the company's global ad sales teams, Robin Wheeler will be tasked with running a depleted ad-sales team, and keeping advertisers on board as major brands pause advertising on the platform. A look at what Wheeler's up against.

8. Twitter rolled out — then killed — its new gray check marks for "official" accounts. The gray checks appeared under the names of a number of public figures, including athletes and politicians, before Elon Musk said he "killed" the feature. Then a Twitter product manager said the marks would still be coming. Inside the gray check marks' confusing start.

Odds and ends:

9. Volvo just took the wraps off its futuristic new EV. The EX90, Volvo's new electric SUV, can tell if you're drunk, power your house, and go 300 miles without charging. Get a look at the high-tech Volvo.

10. What is Mastodon, and why are Twitter users flocking there? Following Elon Musk's Twitter takeover, Mastodon's CEO said 489,003 new users have signed up for the Twitter competitor. Check out our guide to the open-source platform.

What we're watching today:

• WeWork and others are reporting earnings. Keep up with earnings here.
• The four-day Virtual Metaverse Music Festival kicks off today.

Keep updated with the latest tech news throughout your day by checking out The Refresh from Insider, a dynamic audio news brief from the Insider newsroom. Listen here.

Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.