Meta (Facebook) is simultaneously laying off 5% of its employees at all the company’s centers worldwide including in Israel. Some 40 employees in Israel have been summoned to a hearing ahead of being dismissed representing slightly less than 5% of the 900 Meta employees in Israel.
Several weeks ago Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that he plans conducting a workforce ‘enhancement’ round by laying off 5% of the company’s low-performing employees, a practice that was previously been implemented at companies such as Microsoft and Intel.
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Zuckerberg’s statement has been criticized online, as those affected by the move will be stigmatized as low performers. Gabe Hernandez, a former Meta employee, criticized the move on LinkedIn, saying that “a wave of employees will be labeled in public as low performers, but employers – don’t fall for it. Meta is a demanding company, and these low performers will be your best employees later. Give them a chance.”
Other employees criticized the move anonymously. Speaking to “Business Insider,” an employee insisted, “Zuckerberg is creating a culture of fear, one where you have to be loyal to him”; while another employee said that “working at Meta is like working in a George Orwell book.”
Laying off 5% of the lowest performers in an enterprise is a well-known practice that is occasionally carried out by large companies that have accumulated an excessive number of employees, but few CEOs publicly declare this. At Intel, there is a tradition of measuring performance and sending a warning to employees who are found to be low performers, after which they are given an opportunity to improve their performance. At Microsoft Israel, a policy of laying off 5% every year was previously introduced by former Microsoft Israel CEO Aryeh Skop, which he frequently spoke about. However, such a statement is usually criticized by employees, and therefore many managers tend not to speak publicly about their intention to automatically cut the number of employees.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on February 10, 2025.
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2025-02-10 11:46:19