Meta to lay off 5% of ‘lowest performers’, plans to hire for impacted roles

SAN FRANCISCO - Meta Platforms will trim about 5 per cent of its “lowest performers” and plans to hire for the impacted roles this year, a company spokesperson said on Jan 14.

Chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg has also warned employees about more such job cuts this year to “raise the bar” on performance management, the spokesperson said.

The Facebook parent had a total workforce of more than 72,000 as of Sept 30.

Many tech companies, including Cisco and IBM , have been looking to redirect investments into artificial intelligence technology. Meta has also poured billions into AI-related infrastructure, with its expenses expected to grow this year.

The social media company initiated several restructuring changes in 2022, resulting in around 11,000 job cuts.

Mr Zuckerberg had also called 2023 the “Year of Efficiency” as Meta announced its decision to eliminate around 10,000 roles.

Last week, the company

scrapped its US fact-checking programme

and reduced curbs on discussions around contentious topics such as immigration and gender identity, bowing to conservative pushback ahead of Republican Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency.

Meta’s layoffs were first reported by Bloomberg News earlier on Jan 14. REUTERS