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Meta may be preparing for another round of layoffs as employees report receiving below-par performance reviews this week. Layoffs in the tech industry have become the norm in recent months, with Meta laying off 11,000 employees in November, while CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that 2023 would be the “Year of Efficiency.”
Sources close to the matter told the Wall Street Journal that the underperforming ratings could portend another round of layoffs, but Meta claims the performance review process isn’t a sign of things to come. Instead, Meta said in an email to Gizmodo that it’s designed to “incentivize long-term thinking and quality work, while helping employees get actionable feedback.”
Meta’s assurances have not allayed concerns that the work ethics information provided to employees is just a stepping stone on the way to excusing employees from the company. Zuckerberg has raised the possibility that employees deemed underperforming would not last long, saying at a town hall meeting in June, “Realistically, there are a lot of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” the reported Wall Street Journal.
About 10% of employees reportedly received bad reviews, with some saying it typified Zuckerberg’s attitude early in the Covid-19 pandemic when he gave straightforward and direct feedback to employees.
The performance reviews come after sources familiar with the situation told Business Insider management across the company to double the ranking of low performance from “meets most” expectations to “needs support.” The sources said the rate would increase to 14.5-16.5 percent from the previous range of 7-12 percent.
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“We have increased the low end of our bid for this cycle because it includes 12 months of non-regrettable wear and tear instead of 6 months as we had in our old system,” outlet managers were told. “In addition, we have taken into account non-regrettable fluctuations due to the layoff in November. We will also be more rigorous in our mostly pass/consistently all pass borderline assessments.”
However, whether the negative reviews will affect the future employment of Meta’s employees was not disclosed, and the company declined to respond when Gizmodo asked if it was indicative of future layoffs.
A meta spokesperson said in an email statement to Gizmodo that the reviews are part of a larger plan to “empower a culture of high performance.” They added, “Nothing about this year’s performance review process has changed or differs from what we have already communicated to employees.”