Meta will cut 5% of jobs and get rid of “unproductive” ones faster

Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is preparing to cut around 5% of its workforce worldwide as the company looks to quickly exit “low performers”.

In a memo to staff, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he had decided to accelerate the firm’s regular performance-based cuts in anticipation of a “busy year.”

He said the company would “fill” the roles later in 2025.

The company, which employs about 72,000 people worldwide, did not say how the cuts would be distributed around the world.

Affected US workers will be notified by February 10, Mr Zuckerberg said in a memo. Those outside the US will be notified “later.”

“This is going to be a busy year and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams,” he wrote.

“I decided to raise the bar on performance management and weed out the underperformers faster.”

The move follows other major decisions by Mr. Zuckerberg, including ending the company’s fact-checking and diversity programs.

Job cuts based on performance are common in corporate America. At Meta, they typically roll out over the course of a year, Mr. Zuckerberg said, but this year the process is being accelerated.

The move could affect around 3,600 people. They will get a “generous day off,” he said.

The last big cuts at Meta took place in 2023, when the company cut about 10,000 positions as part of a cost-cutting drive after Mr Zuckerberg declared it a “year of efficiency”. This cut around 11,000 roles in 2022.

Mr. Zuckerberg also appears to be overhauling his own image.

In a recent podcast with Joe Rogan, Mr. Zuckerberg said companies need more “masculine energy” and discussed martial arts, which he said he enjoys because it allows him to express himself more fully than in a corporate role.

“When you’re running a company, people usually don’t want to see you as a ruthless person who’s going to crush the people I’m competing with,” he said. “But when you’re fighting, it’s like not.”

“I think in a way, when people see me in this sport, they say, ‘That’s the real Mark.’