Meta to lay off 5 percent of workforce, targeting lowest-performing employees

Meta Inc. on Tuesday notified employees that it intends to lay off approximately 5% of its workforce, as Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg seeks to raise the company's performance standards. 

The development is the latest change for the social media company, which announced last week that it will be eliminating its fact-checking system. The company also said there would be changes to its content moderation system and its rules on hate speech. 

Zuckerberg told employees in an internal memo that not every employee who failed to meet the company's production standards will be let go, but those who are will be given a "generous severance" package, according to CNBC. 

"This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams," Zuckerberg said in the memo. "I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low performers faster. We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle, with the intention of back filling these roles in 2025."

Those who will be released from the company will be notified by Feb. 10. 

The reduction is expected to eliminate approximately 3,600 employees, since the company noted that it had roughly 72,000 employees in its most recent quarterly report.

The cuts are also the company's largest layoffs since 2022 and 2023, when it reduced its workforce by 21,000 jobs, or nearly a quarter of its workforce.

Misty Severi is a news reporter for Just The News. You can follow her on X for more coverage.