Zuckerberg plans Meta layoffs as company culls ‘low performers’ faster (original) (raw)

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg warned employees Tuesday that the company is planning to push out “low performers” faster — a move that will lead to thousands of job cuts in a layoff that could affect 5 percent of the company.

Zuckerberg said he has decided to “raise the bar on performance management,” as the company forges ahead in building out AI-powered services and immersive devices, according to a memo posted internally and seen by The Washington Post.

“This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our team,” Zuckerberg wrote.

Meta confirmed that these policies will lead to a dramatic staff cut, trimming back roughly 5 percent of the company’s workforce. Zuckerberg told rank-and-file workers that those being cut will be notified on Feb. 10 and will receive “generous severance,” according to the memo. Zuckerberg said the company expects to backfill the jobs of workers who will be cut.

Bloomberg News earlier reported on the 5 percent staff cut.

Since cutting thousands of jobs in 2022 and 2023, the company has steadily boosted hiring, in part by recruiting talent to expand its work on artificial intelligence and building out the immersive digital worlds known as the metaverse.

By the end of September, Meta employed 72,404 people,about 14,910 fewer than it had before its first round of layoffs in November 2022. The company earned $40.59 billion in revenue during the third quarter of 2024, a 19 percent increase from the year before, according to Meta’s financial filings.

Historically, Metamanagers have given out a wide range of ratings for their reports. Managers — in coordination with the human resources department — typically make sure the ratings are “calibrated” across teams, with at least some employees receiving lower ratings.

Zuckerberg said Meta often “manages out” people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of the year, but the company will do more extensive company performance-based cuts during this evaluation cycle. The Meta CEO added that the company won’t push out all low performers, especially if it feels “optimistic about their future performance.”

Meta employees already have experienced a dizzying number of changes at their company. On Friday, Meta announced it was dismantling its employee diversity and equity programs, reversing a years-long approach to make women and underrepresented groups feel more included at the company.

But Zuckerberg struck an optimistic tone about the future trajectory of Meta.

“Letting people go is never easy,” he wrote. “But I’m confident this will strengthen our teams and help us build leading technology to enable the future of human connection.”