Meta to fire 3,600 'low-performing' employees in latest layoff round
What's the story
Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is preparing to fire around 3,600 employees flagged as underperformers.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg's decision will impact nearly 5% of the company's overall workforce.
Meta had a global employee strength of about 72,400 as of September last year.
The move is part of a wider strategy to improve performance management in the company.
Performance overhaul
Zuckerberg's strategy to enhance performance management
Zuckerberg has said he wants to "raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster."
The goal of these performance-based cuts is to ensure Meta only retains the "strongest talent" and opens up opportunities for new hires.
He said, "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."
Attrition target
Meta's goal: 10% 'non-regrettable' attrition
The upcoming job cuts are part of Meta's plan to reach a 10% "non-regrettable" attrition rate by the end of the current performance cycle. This number also includes an estimated 5% from 2024 alone.
The layoffs will mostly impact employees who have been with Meta long enough to get a performance review and are considered underperforming.
However, the company has promised that those impacted will get "generous severance."
Operational shifts
'Year of Efficiency' initiative and policy changes
The layoffs come as part of Zuckerberg's "Year of Efficiency" initiative, which focuses on cost optimization and streamlining the organization.
In the last year alone, Meta has already laid off thousands of employees to cut costs and increase profitability.
These layoffs also come amid several strategic and policy changes at Meta, including changes to its content moderation policies on controversial subjects such as immigration and transgender rights.
Tech transition
Meta's AI development and market response
In a recent podcast, Zuckerberg revealed that Meta and other tech giants are working on AI systems that can take on complex coding tasks currently performed by human engineers.
He announced plans to replace midlevel software engineers with artificial intelligence by 2025.
The layoff announcement has already caused a drop in Meta's shares, highlighting investor concerns about the company's broader direction.