Meta layoffs: workers challenge Zuckerberg's 'low performer' justification

Following Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg's mid-January warning to employees about raising performance standards and cutting 5% of the workforce, recent layoffs impacting approximately 3,600 workers have generated controversy.

Some affected employees are challenging the company's assertion that the cuts solely targeted low performers, claiming they received favorable performance reviews.

Zuckerberg's warning: raising the bar on performance

In an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg, Zuckerberg stated the plan to “manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year,” and “do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”

At the time, Zuckerberg made it sound as if it would just be low performers who would be affected by the layoffs.

However, some workers who claim they received favorable performance reviews and were otherwise not the lowest performers have gotten caught up in the cuts, which began Monday and impacted about 3,600 workers.

One former Meta employee, Kaila Curry, posted on LinkedIn that she was laid off despite receiving an "exceeds expectations" rating on her midyear review.

"I frequently asked for feedback and was always told I was doing a good job," Curry wrote.

Another laid-off ex-Meta employee, LinkedIn user Steven S., a former product designer for Instagram, claimed the company's assertion it's cutting the dead wood is “flat-out wrong,” noting that the "label is misleading, and for many of us, it’s flat-out wrong.”

While this user didn’t mention or show what rating he received on the performance review.

Meta's definition of "low performer": unclear metrics

However, it’s unclear what Meta qualifies as a “low performer.”

The company didn’t immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Business Insider also spoke with several Meta employees who had been affected by the layoffs and spoke on the condition of anonymity.

They said they had received an “at or above expectations” rating on their 2024 assessments, which would rank them as mid-tier employees at Meta, not low performers.

“The hardest part is Meta publicly stating they’re cutting low performers, so it feels like we have the scarlet letter on our backs,” one employee told Business Insider.

Criticism of Meta's messaging

Diane Brady, executive director of Fortune Live Media, criticized Zuckerberg’s labeling of Meta’s most recently laid-off employees as low-performing.

“There’s something to be said for letting people leave with their dignity intact rather than branding them as subpar performers,” Brady wrote in her CEO Daily newsletter on Tuesday.

“Companies that celebrate and support former employees tend to create more fans than foes.”

A 'year of efficiency'

These layoffs follow Zuckerberg’s declared "year of efficiency" in 2023, which involved eliminating 10,000 jobs.

While Zuckerberg insisted the latest round of layoffs would exclusively impact the lowest-performing employees, the company has simultaneously expedited hiring for machine-learning engineers, as reported by Reuters, reflecting a strategic focus on AI development.

“From a hiring standpoint, our focus continues to be on adding technical talent to support our strategic priorities,” Susan Li, Meta’s chief financial officer, said during a January 29 call with investors.

For now, affected Meta employees will continue to question why they were let go.

“Maybe I ‘lacked masculine energy‘ (to quote Mark Zuckerberg himself),” Curry wrote. “Who knows?”