Meta has started performance-based layoffs affecting 5% of its 72,000-person workforce or around 3,600 global employees.
Laid-off U.S.-based Meta employees were notified on Monday, February 10 at 5 a.m. PT via an email sent to their work and personal email addresses. Employees in Europe and Asia were notified the day prior.
The Information reports that laid-off employees lost access to Meta’s internal systems within an hour and learned about their severance packages via email. Two sources told Business Insider that U.S. workers received a severance package that includes 16 weeks of pay, plus two weeks for each year at the company. The package is identical to the one received by Google employees in January 2023 when Google eliminated 12,000 positions.
Related: Meta Informs Staff that Layoffs Will Begin Monday Morning in a Now-Leaked Internal Memo
How Does Meta Identify ‘Low Performers’
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the layoffs through an internal memo in January, stating that the cuts would target “low performers.”
Meta’s layoffs target employees who received low scores in their performance reviews after only meeting some or none of their job goals. BI reports that Meta managers have to give 12% to 15% of their team lower rankings and, in some cases, are forced to place team members into lower categories to meet the target.
It’s unclear who was laid off and from which departments.
“Mark is creating fear,” one Meta employee told BI. “He’s creating a culture where you have to be loyal to him or else.”
One Meta employee told BI that labeling the layoffs performance-based could damage the reputations of affected employees.
“Now people have to go back out into the job market with a label that is incredibly unfair,” they stated.
Related: Meta Reminds Staff of Its Strict No-Leaks Policy — That Has Since Been Leaked to the Press
One employee impacted by the layoffs, Brittney Ball, took to X to share the news. She explained that she was let go after five years at Meta and outlined six reasons why companies should hire her, including that she had helped over 3,000 people break into tech.
Justin Allen, a senior user experience designer at Oculus Studios, posted on LinkedIn on Monday that he was impacted by the layoffs while Meta technical recruiter Carl Wheatley posted on the same platform that he knew recruiters and product designers who were let go too.
Unfortunately, after 5 years, I was impacted by the Meta layoffs today. However, here are some reasons why you should hire me:
– Helped over 3,000 individuals break into tech
– Organized the Black Tech Gala with over ten Bay Area tech companies, attracting over 3,500… pic.twitter.com/08jg6OXNaK— Brii (she/her) ????✊??? (@Brii_toe_knee) February 10, 2025
This story originally appeared on Entrepreneur
