Meta is set to lay off over 3,600 employees, or roughly 5% of its “lowest performers.”
In an internal memo posted on the company’s Workplace forum on Tuesday, Jan. 14, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said 2025 will be an “intense year” for Meta, and he wants to “make sure we have the best people on our teams,” according to CNBC.
“Meta is working on building some of the most important technologies of the world,” Zuckerberg wrote. “AI, glasses as the next computing platform and the future of social media.”
He said those affected by the layoffs will be notified by Feb. 10, 2025, or later for individuals outside the United States.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster,” Zuckerberg said. “We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle, with the intention of back filling these roles in 2025.”
He added, “We won’t manage out everyone who didn’t meet expectations for the last period if we’re optimistic about their future performance, and for those we do let go, we’ll provide generous severance in line with what we provided with previous cuts.”
Meta reportedly has more than 72,000 employees. CNBC reported that laid-off employees will receive severance packages similar to those offered when the company eliminated 21,000 jobs, or nearly a quarter of its workforce, in 2022 and 2023.
According to Mashable, the company provided a severance package that included 16 weeks of base pay plus an additional two weeks for each year of service. The package also included full payment for remaining paid time off, six months of healthcare benefits, three months of career support, and immigration assistance.
Meta has recently undergone several significant operational changes in the past week as part of its efforts to build closer ties with President-elect Donald Trump.
On Friday, Jan. 10, Janelle Gale, the company’s vice president of human resources, announced the termination of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs, AFROTECH™ reported.
In a Workplace memo addressing updates to “our hiring, development, and procurement practices,” Gale said instead of DEI programs, Meta will implement initiatives “that focus on applying fair and consistent practices to mitigate bias for everyone, regardless of their background.”
On Jan. 7, Zuckerberg also announced that the company would eliminate its third-party fact-checking system for a community notes model similar to that used on Elon Musk’s X, formerly Twitter.
Zuckerberg said in an announcement video that the fact-checking programs have become “too politically biased” and “destroyed more trust than they’ve created, especially in the U.S.,” according to AFROTECH™.
The company will simplify its content policies by lifting restrictions on topics such as immigration and gender and will prioritize addressing illegal and high-severity violations, Zuckerberg said.
Meta is also moving its trust and safety teams that review content from California — a historically Democratic state — to Texas, which leans Republican, and other U.S. locations.
“We’ve reached a point where it’s just too many mistakes and too much censorship,” Zuckerberg said, according to AFROTECH™. “The recent elections also feel like a cultural tipping point towards once again prioritizing speech, so we’re going to get back to our roots and focus on reducing mistakes, simplifying our policies, and restoring free expression on our platforms.”
