Over the past few weeks, Meta (META), the company that owns the well-known social media sites Facebook and Instagram, has been deeply involved in controversy. Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, warned staff members in a memo last month that the firm will be laying off about 3,600 workers, or 5% of its total workforce. According to Zuckerberg, the corporation will be employing new staff this year to replace those left off, and the job cutbacks will be contingent on performance. Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, USA. An important milestone in Chief was reached when Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled its first set of augmented reality glasses, which are gadgets that display a mixed perspective of the digital and physical worlds. In the memo, Zuckerberg stated, “I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster.” However, as the company’s layoffs began on February 10, this endeavor took an unforeseen turn.
Some laid-off workers said they were “blindsided” by their dismissal because they had just received good performance assessments, according to a recent Business Insider investigation. According to Insider, before the layoffs started, Meta emailed managers an internal document telling them to fire higher-performing workers if they couldn’t fulfill reduction targets by reducing only low-performing staff. Meta has chosen to raise bonuses for its executives (apart from the CEO) by 75–200% of their base pay in the midst of the recent layoff scandal. The company’s “Bonus Plan” for executives “provides variable cash incentives” every year, “which are designed to motivate its executive officers to focus on company priorities and to reward them for company results and achievements,” according to a recent 8-K Securities and Exchange Commission filing from Meta.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., on Wednesday, September 25, 2024, at the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, USA. An important milestone in CEO development was reached when Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled its first set of augmented reality glasses, which are gadgets that display a blended perspective of the digital and physical worlds. In an important step toward CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s vision of a hands-free smartphone, Meta Platforms Inc. unveiled its first set of augmented reality glasses, which are gadgets that display a merged view of the digital and physical worlds. One of the richest individuals in the planet, Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth is mostly derived from his ownership of Meta Platforms. After determining that their goal total cash pay “was at or below the 15th percentile of executives holding similar positions,” Meta stated it made the decision to boost its executives’ bonuses.
Some employees of Meta are experiencing a reduction in stock incentives, which constitute a substantial portion of their compensation, while executives are receiving increases in bonus pay. On April 15, 2024, in North Haledon, New Jersey, an IRS Form 1040, a U.S. Individual Income Tax Return, is placed on a desk. A recent Insider report claims that Meta reduced the value of employee stock grants by about 10%. This means that some employees will receive 10% less in stock refreshers per fiscal quarter this year that vest after four years. A request for comment from TheStreet was not immediately answered by Meta. Meta’s decision coincides with the tech sector’s sharp employee reduction. Several major corporations announced layoffs this year, including Amazon, Microsoft, Intel, and Workday.
According to current data from Layoffs.fyi, 59 tech companies have declared job layoffs so far in 2025, resulting in 13,802 individuals being thrown off. Recently, Meta changed course on important corporate policies. There have been other significant changes at Meta’s workplace recently besides layoffs. The decision by Meta to discontinue its diversity, equality, and inclusion program last month, just after President Donald Trump signed an executive order eliminating federal agency DEI projects, has sparked controversy. The company will no longer use its Diverse Slate Approach in its hiring process and will stop its supplier diversity initiatives, according to a January memo that was given to staff announcing the move. Additionally, the business announced that it will swap out its equity and inclusion training courses for ones “that focus on how to apply fair and consistent practices that mitigate bias for both.”
In the memo, Meta stated that “the legal and policy landscape surrounding diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in the United States is changing.” A change in the way courts will handle DEI is indicated by recent rulings from the US Supreme Court. It restates long-standing beliefs that discrimination based on innate traits should not be accepted or encouraged.