Meta plans to lay off up to 5 percent of its employees based on performance ratings, according to an internal memo to workers on Tuesday viewed by The New York Times.
“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive of Meta, said in the memo. “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.”
Mr. Zuckerberg said in the memo that workers whose roles were cut would 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 would no longer police certain types of hate speech, including allowing users of its apps to suggest that L.G.B.T.Q. identities are rooted in mental illness.
Meta also said it would stop fact-checking posts and promote political news in its Newsfeed, reversing several of its content moderation rules in preparation for the incoming Trump administration. President-elect Donald J. Trump has criticized Meta and other tech companies for what he describes as censorship of conservative viewpoints.
A spokesman for Meta declined to comment on the layoffs. Bloomberg earlier reported on the cuts.
In Meta’s internal company message boards, employees asked whether the cuts would target specific groups, such as the L.G.B.T.Q. community or people of color.
“Given what we heard Mark say about D.E.I. last week, do we think these cuts are coming for people who don’t have the masculine energy he is looking for?” one Meta employee asked.
Last week, Mr. Zuckerberg said the company was terminating its diversity, equity and inclusion programs, effective immediately. In an interview with the podcaster Joe Rogan on Friday, Mr. Zuckerberg also said that “masculine energy, I think, is good.”
“It’s like, you want feminine energy, you want masculine energy,” Mr. Zuckerberg said. “I think that that’s all good. But I do think the corporate culture sort of had swung toward being this somewhat more neutered thing.”
In a separate memo to managers viewed by The Times, Meta said that the cuts were to ensure the company had the “strongest talent” working at the company, and that it would give Meta the ability to hire new workers. Managers were also told that those laid off would receive “generous” severance packages.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates.
