Meta cuts 5% of jobs to lose 'lowest performers'

Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is preparing to cut approximately 5% of its global workforce, a move aimed at more quickly eliminating "low-performing employees."

In a memo sent to employees, CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that he has decided to accelerate the company's regular performance-based layoffs to address a "tense year." He also indicated that the company will "fill" these vacant positions later in 2025.

Meta has approximately 72,000 employees globally but did not specify how the layoffs would be distributed across its global operations. According to Zuckerberg's memo, affected employees in the United States will be notified by February 10th, while those outside the U.S. will be informed "later."

“This is going to be a tense year, and I want to make sure our team has the best talent,” Zuckerberg wrote in the memo. He also stated, "I’ve decided to raise the bar for performance management and more quickly remove low performers." This move comes after other major decisions made by Zuckerberg, including ending the company's fact-checking and diversity programs.

Performance-based layoffs are common in U.S. corporations. Zuckerberg stated that at Meta, these layoffs usually unfold over the course of a year, but this year's process will be accelerated. This round of layoffs could affect approximately 3,600 people, who will receive “generous severance packages.”

Meta's last major layoff occurred in 2023 when the company cut approximately 10,000 positions to reduce costs after Zuckerberg declared it a "year of efficiency." In 2022, the company cut about 11,000 positions. In addition, Zuckerberg also appears to be reshaping his public image.

In a recent podcast with Joe Rogan, Zuckerberg stated that he believes the company needs more "masculinity" and discussed his starting to practice martial arts, which he says he enjoys because he feels more fully expressed in martial arts than in his corporate role. He said, “When you’re running a company, people generally don’t want to see you as a ruthless person who just wants to crush the competition. But when you’re fighting, it’s different.”

“I think to some degree, when people see me doing this, they’re like, ‘Oh, that’s the real Mark.’”