Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, is set to lay off more than 3,600 employees globally, beginning Monday at 5 a.m. local time. These layoffs, described as “performance terminations”, will target the lowest-performing 5% of the workforce, according to reports.
Unlike previous job cuts, Meta will keep its offices open on the day of terminations and will not issue a company-wide announcement regarding the layoffs. Instead, affected employees will receive notification emails on both their work and personal accounts. Within an hour of receiving the email, they will lose access to company systems.
Regions Affected by Meta’s Layoffs
The layoffs will be conducted in multiple time zones, starting with employees in the Asia-Pacific region, followed by Europe, the Middle East, and Africa (EMEA), and concluding with North and Latin America. However, due to local labor regulations, employees in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands will be exempt from these cuts.
Severance & Employee Benefits
As per Meta’s internal memo, affected employees will be provided with severance package details in their notification emails. Those eligible for bonus payouts and stock vesting on February 15 will still receive them despite being laid off. Employees will not be eligible to apply for internal positions during their exit period, but they may reapply for roles at Meta after their final employment date. However, the company noted that past performance will be considered in any rehiring decision.
Meta’s Focus on AI Hiring
Despite the layoffs, Meta is aggressively hiring machine learning engineers as part of its strategy to accelerate AI development. An internal memo from Peng Fan, VP of Engineering for Monetization, stated that AI-related hiring will be expedited between February 11 and March 13. This aligns with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s earlier announcement in January about raising performance standards and removing low-performers to enhance productivity.
Limited Internal Communication on Layoffs
Meta does not plan to release a company-wide statement once the layoffs are completed. Instead, managers will provide updates within their teams regarding any organizational restructuring. However, Janelle Gale, Meta’s VP of Human Resources, admitted that some managers “might not yet have all the answers” to employees’ concerns about team changes.
These latest job cuts mark another significant step in Meta’s ongoing restructuring as it focuses on AI advancements and efficiency improvements across its platforms.
