Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is to lay off 11,000 staff, the tech giant has confirmed in a statement.

The firm is the latest big tech company to slash staff, saying it will reduce its global workforce by 13%.

Its boss and founder Mark Zuckerberg said the cuts were "some of the most difficult changes we've made in Meta's history".

"I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I'm especially sorry to those impacted," he said in a message to the company's 87,000 staff.

According to the Wall Street Journal, staff could receive up to four months salary as compensation. 

The US publication said Zuckerberg had outlined cuts to its recruiting and business teams during a briefing to executives on Tuesday night.

He was reported as telling his top brass that he had been "overoptimistic" in his plans for the company's growth. 

It follows an announcement by Twitter's new owner, Elon Musk, who is understood to have slashed the social media giant's 7,500-strong workforce by half last week. 

Musk made the move as part of a major revamp of the troubled company following his mammoth $44 billion takeover.