Before the finish line Tomorrow is the latest round of mass layoffs, with some employees leaving offices, quitting their jobs and taking advantage of benefits they may soon lose, several people at the company tell WIRED.
Two employees describe the widespread rush to operate the $2,000 annual elastic benefit, which can cover a variety of expenses, including health and wellness activities. A separate, three-year, $200 loan for audio equipment has led to a buying spree for Apple AirPods and other headphones. Another source said Meta’s offices have been largely empty this week as people prioritize polishing their resumes and gather outside the office to commiserate with friends about what could be their last time on the job. Sources say workers are variously “paralyzed”, “anxious” and “panicked”.
Meta plans to lay off about 10 percent of its nearly 80,000 employees on Wednesday, and notices will be sent to affected employees’ personal and business email addresses at 4 a.m. in their local time zone, according to a company-wide memo sent Monday. The cuts come at a time when the social media giant behind Instagram, WhatsApp and Facebook is enjoying record profits.
But CEO Mark Zuckerberg insists the company needs to free up cash to invest in AI data centers and that Meta may well operate with fewer employees thanks to AI technologies that augment the human workforce.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. The company has seen three previous major rounds of layoffs since 2022, including Meta’s one-off “year of efficiency” in 2023. But while the latest round is fewer than a handful, it is drawing widespread scrutiny because it comes at a time of public concern about the impact of artificial intelligence on jobs.
At Meta, imminent cutbacks are one of several concerns that have lowered company morale to unprecedented levels, according to 16 current and former employees who recently spoke to WIRED. Employees were also frustrated by being “pulled” into a up-to-date AI team with no choice, and by the introduction of monitoring software that tracks the operate of U.S. workers’ laptops to train AI models.
Meta is also planning internal restructuring with mass layoffs, shifting its 7,000 remaining employees to “AI initiatives” and turning more managers into individual contributors. This would bring the total number of people affected – laid off or rehired – to 20 percent of the current workforce, Reuters reported on Monday. WIRED independently confirmed this news. Some parts of the company were told it would have no impact.
But in recent days, according to one employee, employees preparing for the changes have shared checklists internally about benefits to take advantage of and are saving documents such as performance reviews and pay stubs. Some teams meet on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at bars and restaurants near Meta’s offices in Recent York and Menlo Park to snack and drink their sorrows, several employees say. Management encouraged employees not to come to the office on Wednesday.