Meta plans to lay off approximately 3,600 employees identified as low performers, according to an internal memo reported by Bloomberg on Tuesday.
These cuts are part of a broader effort to improve performance and will be followed by new hires to replace the dismissed employees.
The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, confirmed to AFP that this decision, made by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, will affect about five percent of its workforce. As of September, Meta employed around 72,400 people.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster,” Zuckerberg said, emphasizing that the cuts are aimed at ensuring Meta retains the “strongest talent” and creates room for new hires.
Performance-based layoffs are a common practice among major US corporations. Last week, Microsoft announced similar cuts, affecting less than one percent of its workforce, according to Business Insider.
The layoffs are part of a broader transformation at Meta, which is aligning itself with more conservative policies ahead of Donald Trump’s return to the White House on January 20. Zuckerberg has recently strengthened his ties with conservative figures, including having dinner meetings with Trump and nominating a Republican as Meta’s head of public affairs.
In addition to the layoffs, Zuckerberg revealed that Meta is ending its US-based fact-checking program, which aimed to combat misinformation on its platforms. The program had been criticized by conservative voices as a form of censorship.
Under the new system, users will be able to add context to posts, similar to the features on X (formerly Twitter), a platform now led by Elon Musk. Meta has also scaled back its diversity initiatives and relaxed content moderation rules on Facebook and Instagram, particularly in relation to certain forms of hostile speech.
AFP
