Meta has announced that it will be shutting down its 'Workplace' platform, an enterprise platform that was essentially a version of Facebook designed for internal communications. Originally launched in 2015 as "Facebook at Work", Workplace was intended to simplify internal collaboration by providing a familiar Facebook interface. Despite reaching seven million paying users in 2021, a 40% increase from the previous year, Meta has decided to discontinue the platform as part of a significant operational review aimed at cost-cutting.
Meta's official statement indicates that the decision to discontinue Workplace is to allow the company to focus on building AI and metaverse technologies. Current Workplace customers will be given the option to transition to Zoom's Workvivo product over the next two years, which is Meta's preferred migration partner.
The deprecation timeline for Workplace, as reported by TechCrunch, is that the platform will remain operational until September 2025, then it will move to read-only mode until May 2026, after which it will be completely shut down. This move will also alleviate Meta's need to convince workplaces of the platform's safety and data protection, allowing the company to focus on other projects.
