Thousands of ‘low performers’ at Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and other Meta companies, to be dismissed

SINGAPORE: Around 5 per cent of the people working for Meta Platforms worldwide will be dismissed, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg saying in a memo that employees who have performed poorly will be let go.

Technology conglomerate Meta is the owner of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, among other companies. It is considered to be part of the “Big Five” in tech, together with Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, and Alphabet, which owns Google.

According to a report in The Guardian, Meta’s latest financial report said it had more than 72,000 employees as of the end of September 2024. This means that as many as 3,600 workers could be dismissed. The report added that their roles would be filled later this year.

In the memo to his staff, Mr Zuckerberg said that as Meta anticipates an “intense year” ahead, he made the choice to speed up the company’s regular performance-based cuts, though how the dismissals will be distributed throughout the globe has yet to be disclosed. However, the Meta employees facing dismissal in the United States will be informed by Feb 10, and those outside the US will be told later on.

“This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams. I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster,” the Meta chief executive wrote.

His memo also said that, as in previous job cuts, the affected employees would be receiving a “generous severance” from the company.

Meta’s job cuts this year are by no means the biggest in the conglomerate’s history.

In late 2022, Meta cut 11,000 jobs worldwide, or 13 per cent of its workforce. The majority of dismissed employees had worked in recruitment, sales, and engineering roles. The Straits Times said that 50 workers in Singapore were affected by the layoffs at the time.

In 2023, Meta saw the elimination of 21,000 jobs, which was equal to a 25 per cent workforce reduction. Mr Zuckerberg called that year a “year of efficiency”. However, 2024 was a banner year for Meta, as its shares went up by 67 per cent because of the boom in artificial intelligence and a better macroeconomic environment.

After the announcement of the latest round of job cuts, however, Meta’s shares fell by 2.3 per cent. /TISG

Read also: S’poreans wonder if Grab’s full return to office is a ‘retrenchment exercise’ or ‘indirect layoffs’