According to a Bloomberg article on Tuesday, Meta intends to fire some 3,600 workers who were found to be underperforming and replace them with fresh personnel.
The corporation, which controls Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, acknowledged to AFP that CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s decision will impact five percent of its employees.
As of September, Meta employed about 72,400 people.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Zuckerberg said.
According to the CEO, the performance-based layoffs aim to ensure the business has the “strongest talent.” They can “bring new people in.”
Large American firms frequently terminate employees depending on their performance. According to Business Insider, Microsoft announced similar layoffs last week that will impact less than 1% of its employees.
The layoffs are part of larger Meta changes before Donald Trump’s return to the White House on January 20.
Recent dinner conversations with Trump and the appointment of a Republican to lead Meta’s public affairs department are just two examples of Zuckerberg’s growing alignment with conservative political figures and ideologies.
To counteract false information on its platforms, Zuckerberg announced the termination of the company’s US fact-checking program last week. Conservative voices had criticized the show, accusing it of censorship.
Under the new system, users will be able to add context to postings, similar to features on X, formerly Twitter, which Elon Musk, the platform’s owner, has supported.
Additionally, the business has loosened Facebook and Instagram’s content moderation guidelines, especially regarding specific types of hate speech, and reduced its diversity initiatives.
