Meta Employees Fear Layoffs As Company's 'Year Of Efficiency' Becomes Permanent: Report

Meta Platforms Inc. META employees are reportedly facing a nerve-wracking period as the company’s “Year of Efficiency” is now a permanent fixture, leading to apprehensions about potential layoffs.

What Happened: The company has been undergoing a prolonged process of evaluating individual employee performance for 2023, with the reviews now concluding. This has left many employees anxious about their job security, reported Business Insider, citing two people familiar with the matter.

While most employees are expected to retain their positions, the company’s ongoing re-organizations have created an atmosphere of uncertainty. The “Year of Efficiency,” which was initially a temporary measure, has now been made a permanent part of the company’s operations by CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

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“Meta has always done a lot of reorgs, moving people around, eliminating teams,” a third person familiar with the company said. “But now everyone is hyper aware of layoffs and it’s tough to find new jobs.”

Despite the company’s recent financial success, with a record-high stock price and increased employee bonuses, the fear of layoffs persists.

Meta has already laid off 22% of its workforce over the past 18 months, and ongoing re-organizations within the company, such as at Instagram and Reality Labs, are expected to result in further job cuts.

Employees affected by these re-organizations are being given three months to find a new position within Meta. Those who fail to do so will lose their jobs.

Additionally, employees who receive lower performance ratings are being offered three months of severance to leave the company without undergoing a formal Performance Improvement Plan or PIP process, the report noted.

Why It Matters: The Zuckerberg-led company reported fourth-quarter revenue of $40.11 billion last month, which was up 25% year-over-year. The revenue total beat a Street consensus estimate of $39.17 billion according to data from Benzinga Pro.

“We had a good quarter as our community and business continue to grow,” Meta CEO said at the time, adding, “We’ve made a lot of progress on our vision for advancing AI and the metaverse.”

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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of Benzinga Neuro and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.