Цифровий аватар Марка Цукерберга / Meta
Meta announced the first round of layoffs in 2025, in which 5% of the workforce will be reduced. According to the company’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the layoffs will primarily target people with “low efficiency.”
“I have decided to raise the bar in managing productivity and to more quickly remove those who have low efficiency,” Zuckerberg wrote in a note to employees. “Usually, we fire people who do not meet expectations over the year, but now we are going to make more extensive cuts based on performance during this cycle.”
Positions of employees with low efficiency are planned to be filled with new hires within the year.
The news of the layoffs appeared a few days after Meta announced radical changes in its content moderation policy, as well as the cancellation of the fact-checking program. The company also abandoned “outdated” diversity programs (DEI) due to “changes in the political landscape”.
In internal communications, Meta employees have already started asking whether the layoffs will target specific groups, such as the LGBTQ community or people of color.
“Given what we heard from Mark about DEI last week, should we assume that these cuts will affect people who do not have the male energy he is looking for?” — asked one employee referring to Zuckerberg’s statements in the Joe Rogan podcast.
According to the latest earnings report, Meta currently has over 72,000 employees, so the cuts will affect about 3,500 people. Employees will receive notification of the layoffs by February 10 and a “generous” severance package.