Meta to lay off ‘lowest performers’

Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram parent Meta Platforms Inc. is slashing about 5% of its workforce through performance-based terminations and plans to hire new people to replace them this year, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday, citing an internal memo sent to staff.

Meta’s 5% cut could impact about 3,600 of its 72,000 employees (as of September).

“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg said in the note posted to an internal message board, according to Bloomberg.

“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,” Zuckerberg said.

Meta’s performance cycle is expected to wrap up in February, the report said, citing an unidentified person familiar with the matter.

Affected workers in the US are expected to be notified on 10 February, while those based in other countries will be informed at a later date, according to the memo.

The terminations will only include staff who have been at the company long enough to be eligible for a performance review, the report added.

Zuckerberg told employees that the firm would “provide generous severance” in line with past cuts.

According to Zuckerberg, the layoffs as a strategy to retain the company’s “strongest talent” while creating opportunities to “bring new people in.”

The job cuts are in line with Meta’s broader objective of achieving “non-regrettable attrition,” that plans a 10% reduction in this category by the end of the current performance cycle. Approximately 5% of the layoffs will affect employees with performance ratings, who are set to receive generous severance packages.

The development came days after Zuckerberg announced Meta will replace fact-checking program with Community Notes. He attributed the changes in content moderation policies to the changing political and cultural dynamics in the US.