Meta is cutting 5% of its workforce, or more than 3,600 employees

Meta plans to cut 5% of its workforce, or about 3,600 workers, with the social media giant focusing on eliminating low-performing employees. 

The layoffs, earlier reported by Bloomberg News, were confirmed by Meta, which had about 72,400 employees as of Sept. 30. In a memo published by Bloomberg and confirmed by Meta, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company’s plan reflects the anticipation of an “intense year” that will focus on technology such as artificial intelligence and smart glasses. 

“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster,” Zuckerberg wrote in the memo. 

The decision to cut low-performing employees comes at a time when Meta is undergoing a transformation, opting to end its fact-checking program and replacing it with a community-driven system similar to that used by Elon Musk’s X. In curtailing its fact-checking program, Zuckerberg cited the 2024 U.S. presidential election as an underlying reason for the decision, calling it a “cultural tipping point.”

Meta is also ending its key diversity, equity and inclusion, or DEI, programs, joining other corporate giants like McDonald’s and Walmart that have pulled the plug on their diversity initiatives. 

The Meta employees who are cut will receive “generous severance,” Zuckerberg said in the memo about the new job cuts.