Meta cuts another 5% of global workforce

Plans to “raise the bar on performance management”

Meta plans to cut another 5% of its workforce which amounts to around 3,600 workers

Meta will remove 5% of its existing workforce via performance-based terminations, according to an internal memo seen by Bloomberg.

I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster,” Mark Zuckerberg said in the memo.

“We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year,” he said, “but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”

In a memo confirmed by Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company's plan reflects the anticipation of an "intense year" that will focus on technology such as artificial intelligence and smart glasses.

US based Meta employees on the layoff list are expected to be notified in early February whilst those based in other countries will find out their fate a little later.

Zuckerberg also confirmed that these roles will be filled and that the firm would “provide generous severance.”

These cuts come at a pivotal time for Meta. Mark Zuckerberg will be jostling for position at the forthcoming inauguration of President Trump with Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and other Silicon Valley luminaries.

Last week, Zuckerberg announced the end of third-party fact checking in the US on Meta platforms and its replacement with an X style Community Notes system. In his personally delivered video announcement of these changes, Zuckerberg cited the 2024 U.S. presidential election as an underlying reason for the decision, calling it a "cultural tipping point."

That tipping point also led to Meta pulling the plug on its DEI efforts joining what is beginning to look like a corporate stampede away from such programs after pressure from conservative campaigners in the US. Amongst corporates including McDonalds and Walmart, Amazon are another example of a tech company who has announced that they are scaling back formal efforts to promote fair and inclusive treatment of employees from all backgrounds. Microsoft got in early by beginning the same process last July.

Meta is also not alone in Silicon Valley in making performance-based job cuts at the start of the new year. Last week, it was reported by Business Insider that Microsoft plans to make similar performance-based cuts although reports suggested that the company was targeting only 1% of its employees.