Meta Might do ‘Quiet Layoff’ and Axe over 12,000 Facebook Employees
Meta Platforms is implementing “quiet layoffs” at Facebook to reduce its workforce as global constraints and declining ad expenditure pose severe issues for Big Tech corporations.
According to a Business Insider report, Facebook executives are currently in the midst of carrying out “quiet layoffs” of underperforming employees, which might result in thousands of workers receiving pink slips. Executives around the firm were instructed by Facebook leadership to choose at least 15% of the employees in their teams to be classified as “needs support” through an internal review process. This targeted restructuring raises the possibility of removing 12,000 employees or 15% of Facebook’s staff.
The report said that the possible layoffs were made public last week through a post by a Meta employee on Blind. Blind is a popular app amongst tech employees that requires a valid workplace email account to use the portal anonymously.
In Facebook’s employee-review procedure, an employee “in need of support” is regarded as performing below the benchmark standards. Such employees are placed on a performance improvement plan (PIP), which typically results in layoffs.
Facebook employees made predictions on the work app Blind that anyone who fell into the 15% bracket would probably lose their jobs. If 15% of Facebook’s workforce were to be let go, 12,000 workers might lose their jobs.
As per Business Insider, In July 2022, Maher Saba, Facebook’s chief engineer, reportedly told its managers that they should identify team employees that “needs support”. However, they did not give a specific percentage.
During the weekly Q&A session, Zuckerberg told its employees:
“ I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now, but from what we’re seeing it doesn’t yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively.”
In May 2022, the company announced a recruiting freeze that has since been extended to all of Meta’s other departments and verticals. While this is going on, a few employees have been given 30 to 60 days to find a new position within the company or leave. Meta has a longtime policy of dismissing the employee when a job position is eliminated but an employee cannot locate a replacement within the firm.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg pinned the blame on the economy and forewarned that the company would have to go through a downsizing or restructuring process. Zuckerberg said that all of Meta’s departments and subsidiary companies including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, would be experiencing budget cuts.
The CEO mentioned that Facebook had significant growth during the initial 18 years of its existence. However, according to Zuckerberg, recent quarters’ sales and revenue statistics have plateaued.
Meta’s move is in line with similar measures made by other major tech companies including Google, Apple, and Microsoft. To reduce costs while maintaining operating margins, some companies have stopped hiring new employees or started issuing pink slips to existing ones.
As per data collated by Crunchbase until late July, over 32,000 tech employees were laid off from their jobs in the USA.
After a surge in success that escalated during the pandemic, the tech sector has been experiencing a lull lately. Many tech giants are halting or ceasing hiring in the face of a more widespread global economic slowdown, interest rate hikes, and regulatory challenges.
I am a law graduate from NLU Lucknow. I have a flair for creative writing and hence in my free time work as a freelance content writer.
