At the beginning of February 2025, Meta Platforms announced a wave of layoffs, which concerned as many as 4,000 employees, accounting for around 5% of the overall global staff. The corporation said the laid-off were “low performers,” a part of more comprehensive efforts to make the company leaner and more focused on areas such as artificial intelligence and virtual reality. However, controversy has surrounded the layoffs as many of the workers laid off argue that they are not underperformers and have received positive performance reviews before they were laid off.
The laid-off employees received “At or Above Expectations” ratings in mid-2024, but at the end of the year, their evaluations had been lowered to “Meets Most,” a category indicating they met most expectations but failed in some. This classification rendered them eligible for the playoffs. The sudden change in performance ratings has left feelings of confusion and frustration among staff members who considered their contributions according to company expectations.
The layoffs fall under Meta’s effort to cut down on the size of the workforce by focusing on the bottom 5% of performers. However, news is unfolding that some of the higher-lead performance tiers had not been spared in the layoffs. This has adversely affected employees who say the firm is misleading the public on issues of the layoffs as being solely targeted at underperformers. The move is making them believe that being tagged as low-performance would occasion damage to their professional reputations and future job opportunities.
Lack of transparency in communication concerning performance feedback has further increased workforce discontent. Most employees said that they had barely received any clue about the kind of performance issue they had or were about to face before inclusion in the layoffs. This ambiguity has resulted in demands for more transparent criteria and consistent evaluations on the part of Meta to prevent such incidents from happening again in the future.
In response to its layoffs, Meta has maintained the company’s effort to simplify, streamline operations, and focus on what matters most within strategic initiatives—particularly artificial intelligence and virtual reality. The organization has said that it will “backfill some of the remaining open roles for critical business goals.” This way, the strategy indicates that where some jobs may be cut in the process, Meta is already looking for candidates in other parts of its agenda.
The recent layoffs have also led to discussions about the broader implications of performance-based terminations in the tech industry. Employees and industry observers alike are debating the fairness and transparency of such practices, especially when performance evaluations can be subjective and may not fully capture an individual’s contributions. The situation at Meta highlights the challenges companies face in managing performance assessments and the importance of clear communication to maintain trust and morale within the workforce.
As Meta continues to adapt to these changes, the company is tasked with addressing employee concerns while pursuing strategic goals. The outcome of this situation may be a case study for other organizations considering similar approaches to workforce management.
