Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, faces tough times at its employee level for business decisions, such as layoffs based on performance.
In announcing the reduction of about 3,600 positions – an estimate equivalent to 5% of the Initial Company-cited cuts – CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that many of those receiving pink slips maintained performance standards exceeding company expectations before their layoffs. Numerous workers have taken to various social media platforms to share their experiences and vent frustrations, stressing that they had not previously exhibited issues with their work performance.
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Changes in employment security and flexibility have been in turmoil generally in tech, especially with the recent return to the office mandates. The culture of many tech companies is changing as some CEOs have begun to roll back diversity and inclusion initiatives while supporting political figures like President Trump. This kind of abrupt shift came to symbolize a turnabout to one of the strongest Meta cultures designed around Sheryl Sandberg and around the notion of giving power to women in the workforce. Most recently, Zuckerberg mentioned a need for “more masculine energy” in business, further muddling values at work.
In a post shared on Blind, one Microsoft employee told a story about a friend still at Meta who had gotten an order to find someone to let go of, all while everyone in their team was performing well. This presents a distressing picture in which layoffs are taken as vindictive acts rather than as solutions to genuine performance problems. The current layoffs are perceived to be a payback for the 2021-2022 period when employees were in such power that their compensation had been considered explosive by their executives.
It is manifest there is a big toll these layoffs are inflicting on Meta employees emotionally. One of them managed to express the sadness and uncertainty they have in themselves, asking whom they should trust in a company they thought they knew. One described another case of a fellow who had been performing well for the last five years but was dismissed, suggesting that management was abusing the system to get rid of people they did not like. This brewing atmosphere of distrust and dissatisfaction among Meta employees shows deeper ills in the company and the wider tech sector.