On Monday, Meta laid off nearly 4,000 employees in its latest round of workforce reductions, with several affected workers expressing surprise at their inclusion, Business Insider reports.
Despite Meta’s claim that the job cuts were aimed at the lowest-performing 5% of employees, some staff with strong performance records said they were unexpectedly let go.
Business Insider spoke to eight terminated employees who reported receiving “At or Above Expectations” ratings during mid-year reviews in 2024 — the middle tier in Meta’s three-level review system. However, these workers said their ratings were later downgraded to “Meets Most” in year-end reviews, a lower tier that made them eligible for job cuts.
Many of these employees said they were unaware of their performance downgrade until they were laid off. One former worker expressed confusion, stating:
“I have a very solid performance history and no indicators of performance problems over the last six months.”
Another employee reported being terminated shortly after returning from parental leave, despite receiving a favorable performance rating earlier in the year.
Internal guidance viewed by Business Insider revealed that Meta allowed managers to include higher-rated employees in the layoffs if they couldn’t meet reduction targets solely from lower-rated staff. This policy, shared with managers in January, was not widely communicated to employees, leaving some blindsided by the job cuts.
One worker described feeling misled by assurances from their manager that their job was secure.
“My manager had been telling me that I was doing great and provided no areas for improvement,” the former employee said. “I was completely blindsided.”
Many laid-off employees expressed frustration with Meta’s public narrative that the layoffs targeted underperformers. Some worried that being labeled a “low performer” could harm their future job prospects.
“The hardest part is Meta publicly stating they’re cutting low performers, so it feels like we have the scarlet letter on our backs,” one employee shared.
Another former staff member challenged the company’s portrayal of the layoffs.
“I would certainly challenge Meta’s narrative about cutting only low performers. I have a really, really difficult time believing I was a low performer based on past feedback from my manager.”
The layoffs are part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s ongoing efforts to streamline Meta’s operations as the company focuses heavily on artificial intelligence and virtual reality. Despite the cuts, Meta plans to increase hiring for machine learning engineers to support its AI initiatives.
The job reductions could potentially become an annual occurrence as Meta seeks to maintain what it considers a lean and efficient workforce.
Meta did not respond to a request for comment regarding employee concerns or the performance review downgrades.
