Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg Photo: Getty images
Meta, the parent company of WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram, plans to cut about 5% of its staff, focusing on the lowest performers. This follows from an internal memo sent out by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, The Guardian reports .
“A year of intensive work”
In his address, Mark Zuckerberg stressed that 2024 will be a busy year, and the company is committed to raising performance standards.
“We have decided to part ways with underperforming employees more quickly. I want to make sure we have the best people working in our teams,” he said.
Details of the abbreviations
Employees in the US are expected to be notified on 10 February. Employees in other countries will be notified later. At the end of September 2023, Meta employed around 72,000 people, meaning that approximately 3,600 people could lose their jobs.
The company also plans to hire new employees in the future to fill these positions, focusing on more productive candidates.
Focus on quality and compensation
Zuckerberg stressed that the layoffs will only affect those who have been working at Meta long enough to evaluate their performance. The company plans to provide “generous compensation”, as it did during previous waves of layoffs.
The decision to make the cuts was announced a few days after Meta announced that it was discontinuing its fact-checking function, claiming that it prioritised freedom of speech. This coincided with preparations for Donald Trump’s possible return to the US presidency.
