Meta plans to cut approximately 3,600 jobs globally as chief executive Mark Zuckerberg warns of an “intense year” ahead and announces plans to accelerate performance management measures.
The parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram will target its lowest-performing employees in the redundancy programme, which affects about 5 per cent of its 72,000-strong workforce. The company intends to refill these positions later in the year.
In a memo to staff, first reported by Bloomberg, Zuckerberg said he had decided to “move out low-performers faster” by intensifying the company’s usual performance review process.
“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”, the 40-year-old billionaire wrote.
The announcement follows Meta’s recent decision to eliminate third-party factcheckers and discontinue its diversity, equity and inclusion programmes, as the company shifts towards prioritising free speech ahead of Donald Trump’s anticipated return to the White House.
US-based employees affected by the cuts will receive notification by February 10, with international staff to be informed later. The redundancies will only impact employees who have been with the company long enough to qualify for performance reviews.
Meta has committed to providing “generous severance” packages in line with previous redundancy programmes.
