Meta plans to lay off up to 5 percent of its employees based on performance ratings, according to an internal memo to workers Tuesday seen by The New York Times.
“I have decided to raise the bar on performance management and remove poor performers faster,” Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's chief executive, said in the memo. “We typically manage people who don't meet expectations over the course of a year, but now we're going to make more extensive cuts based on performance over this cycle.”
Zuckerberg said in the memo that workers whose positions were eliminated would be replaced by new hires in 2025.
The layoffs came days after Meta announced sweeping changes to its content moderation policies. The company, which owns facebook, instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, said it would no longer police certain types of hate speech, including allowing users of its apps to suggest that LGBTQ identities are rooted in mental illness.
Meta also said it would stop publishing fact-checking posts and promoting political news in its Newsfeed, reversing several of its content moderation rules in preparation for the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Donald J. Trump has criticized Meta and other technology companies for what he describes as censorship of conservative views.
A Meta spokesman declined to comment on the layoffs. Bloomberg before reported in the cuts.
Meta has more than 72,000 employees, according to its latest earnings report, and the cuts Zuckerberg announced Tuesday would eliminate about 3,600 people.
Last week, Zuckerberg said the company would end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, effective immediately. In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday, Zuckerberg also said that “I think masculine energy is good.”
“It's like you want feminine energy, you want masculine energy,” Zuckerberg said. “I think that's all good. But I do think that the corporate culture had shifted toward something more neutral.”
On internal Meta company message boards, employees asked whether the cuts would target specific groups, such as the LGBTQ community or people of color.
“Given what we heard Mark say about DEI last week, do we think these cuts are aimed at people who don't have the masculine energy he's looking for?” an employee asked.
In a separate memo to managers seen by The Times, Meta said the cuts were to ensure the company had the “strongest talent” working at the company, and would give Meta the ability to hire new workers. Managers were also told that those laid off would receive “generous” severance packages.
The cuts also represent Meta's first major sacrifice since 2023, when Zuckerberg embarked on what he called the “year of efficiency,” a move to reduce its workforce after years of what he said was “overhiring.” ” during the pandemic. Zuckerberg pressured managers in all departments to set higher performance targets to weed out poor performers, resulting in Meta cutting about a third of its overall workforce in 2023.
Still, Meta's ranks have grown. Zuckerberg has set out to replace many of those employees with new hires focused on artificial intelligence, as Meta and other big tech companies focus on developing chatbots and other ai-powered services.
