Mark Zuckerberg plans to lay off an additional five percent of Meta's workforce

Meta is preparing for even more layoffs, according to reporting by Bloomberg. CEO Mark Zuckerberg said in a company memo that he plans on cutting about five percent of its "low-performers."

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

All told, this could result in 10 percent fewer staff at Meta, once attrition is accounted for. Bloomberg suggested that the forthcoming pink slips will focus on people “who have been with the company long enough to receive a performance rating.”

Between increased layoffs and attrition, nearly 7,000 Meta staff might be leaving the company in the near future. This follows a firing spree that began in late 2022, eventually impacting over 20,000 workers. The company also laid off 60 technical program managers earlier this month.

"A leaner org will execute its highest priorities faster. People will be more productive, and their work will be more fun and fulfilling," Zuckerberg said in 2024. Nothing says “fun and fulfilling” like living in constant fear of being fired.

Meta has had an unusual year so far. We are only halfway through January and the Zuck has already ended third-party fact checking across Meta platforms, appointed UFC CEO Dana White to Meta’s board and took a trip to Mar-a-lago to bend the knee. The company also changed its "Hateful Content" policy to make it safer for homophobes and it came out that Instagram had been shadowbanning common LGBTQ hashtags. 

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