Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is set to initiate company-wide layoffs starting Monday, February 10, 2025. Notifications will begin at 5 a.m. local time in most countries, with exceptions in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands due to local regulations. Employees in other regions, including Europe, Asia, and Africa, will be notified between February 11 and February 18. The layoffs will impact about 5% of the company’s workforce, targeting “lowest performers” in what is termed as “performance terminations.”
Concurrently, Meta is expediting the hiring of machine learning engineers and other essential engineering roles. The hiring process will be conducted from February 11 to March 13 to align with Meta’s strategic priorities for 2025. No additional updates on the layoffs will be provided on Monday, and Meta’s offices will remain open.
This move is part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy to eliminate low performers and align company finances to support hefty AI investments. The job cuts are part of a larger trend across major tech companies like Microsoft, Amazon, and Salesforce, which are also reducing their workforce after extensive hiring during the pandemic.
In 2023, Meta undertook what it called its “year of efficiency,” laying off thousands of employees. The trend continued into 2024, with additional job cuts and a workplace culture increasingly defined by “intensity.”
Meta’s layoffs began in November 2022, when the company cut 11,000 jobs, accounting for 13% of its workforce. CEO Mark Zuckerberg later admitted that aggressively expanding Meta’s investments had been a miscalculation, as he had incorrectly predicted that the surge in e-commerce demand during the COVID-19 pandemic would persist. He also pointed to rising competition, a global economic slowdown, and “ads signal loss” as contributing factors to Meta’s financial struggles.
By April 2023, Meta announced plans to eliminate an additional 10,000 jobs, as part of broader industry-wide downsizing. Major tech companies, including Google, Amazon, Tesla, Snap, Twitter (now X), and Lyft, also implemented significant layoffs during this period.
As Meta continues to navigate these challenges, the company is also focusing on strategic areas such as artificial intelligence and machine learning. The expedited hiring process for machine learning engineers and other critical roles underscores Meta’s commitment to investing in technologies that align with its long-term vision and strategic priorities for 2025.
The upcoming layoffs and strategic hiring initiatives reflect Meta’s ongoing efforts to streamline operations, enhance efficiency, and position itself for future growth in an increasingly competitive tech landscape.
