Meta plans to fire up to 5% of its employees based on performance evaluations, according to an internal memo to workers seen by The New York Times on Tuesday.
“I set out to raise the bar on performance management and weed out low-performing workers faster,” Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, said in the statement. “We typically manage people who don’t meet expectations over the course of a year, but now we will make larger cuts based on performance during this cycle.”
Zuckerberg said in the memo that workers whose roles were cut will be replaced by new hires in 2025.
The layoffs came days after Meta announced sweeping changes to its content moderation policies. The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, said it will no longer police certain types of hate speech, including allowing users of its apps to suggest that LGBTQ identities are rooted in mental illness.
Meta also said it will stop fact-checking posts and promoting political news in its Newsfeed, reversing many of its content moderation rules in preparation for the future Trump administration. President-elect Donald J. Trump has criticized Meta and other technology companies for what he describes as censorship of conservative viewpoints.
A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the layoffs. Bloomberg had previously reported the cuts.
On Meta’s internal company message boards, employees asked whether the cuts would target specific groups, such as the LGBTQ community or people of color.
“Given what we heard Mark say about DEI last week, do we think these cuts are going to come for people who don’t have the masculine energy he’s looking for?” asked a Meta employee.
Last week, Zuckerberg said the company would end its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, effective immediately. In an interview with podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday, Zuckerberg also said that “male energy, I think, is good.”
“It’s like you want feminine energy, you want masculine energy,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “I think everything is fine. But I think the company culture has shifted to something a little more neutral.”
In a separate memo to managers seen by The Times, Meta said the cuts were to ensure the company had the “strongest talent” within it and would give Meta the ability to hire new workers. Managers were also told that those fired would receive “generous” severance packages.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.