‘I was let go today—but not because I was a low performer’: Former Meta employee encourages others affected by job cuts

USA: “I was let go today—but not because I was a ‘low performer,’” a former Meta employee posted on LinkedIn, after the company started notifying about 3,600 of its staff that their jobs were being cut to make room for the “strongest talent” and to stay ahead in the artificial intelligence (AI) race.

After discovering that morning that he was part of Meta’s latest round of layoffs, he pointed out that headlines surrounding the job cuts focused on the company’s move to “raise the bar” by letting go of “low performers”.

“Let’s be clear: that label is misleading, and for many of us, it’s flat-out wrong,” he said.

He shared that he had worked hard over the past year, contributing, collaborating, and doing his best to push his team forward. Yet, like thousands of others, he was still “swept up” in a process he felt was more about hitting numbers than fairly evaluating individual performance.

Encouraging others who, like him, found themselves part of the “low performer” statistic, he remarked, “Layoffs like this aren’t about who deserves to stay—they’re about business decisions made at a high level, often with little regard for the talent being lost. Not to mention the overall physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing of the humans impacted by these decisions.”

He added, “So, to everyone affected today: that ‘low performer’ label does not define you. Your skills, work ethic, and potential are still intact. This is a setback, but it’s not the end of your story.” /TISG

Read also: Meta cuts ‘low-performers’ to make way for ‘strongest talent’ in AI race