“I am super confused how I got terminated. I still think this is an error.”
“It is an engineering paradise, as everything is reinvented again here.”
Two starkly different views of life at Meta—the first from a recently laid-off employee, the second from a Meta employee on Blind (where several workers have lamented that layoffs have gotten “uglier“)—have collided in the wake of the social-media giant’s latest “performance-based” layoffs. Also on Blind, one user bluntly urged a boycott of all Meta apps, while others shared documentation showing “exceeds expectations” ratings prior to abrupt termination. Screenshots reveal employees shocked by performance evaluations that plummeted from consistently high marks one year to “Meets Most” the next. Now, in the aftermath, their collective chorus of confusion, indignation, and disillusionment is shining a spotlight on how Meta is managing its workforce—and what that means for the broader tech industry, which had become an increasingly robust pillar of innovation over the past decade.
The company is currently hiring for a raft of positions, inlcuding senior software engineers to lead product development in Menlo Park, to product managers focused on the burgeoning field of research scientist in generative AI. Meta is also expanding its research presence in Paris with openings for computer vision experts and seeking software engineers in Toronto to develop advanced machine learning systems. In addition, openings for AR/VR, AI Research, and Infrastructure are also listed on its hiring page.
Performance-based cuts
At Meta, the recent layoffs were spread across multiple departments and regions at the company with Meta characterizing these cuts as performance-based (targeting low performers) rather than a specific division shutdown. While Meta didn’t publicly specify which departments were hit hardest, media outlets noted that previous Meta job cuts had often targeted recruiting teams, technical groups, and layers of middle management.
Yet, until recently, Meta was also celebrated as one of tech’s premier workplaces—especially for its sky-high salaries and stock packages. According to Blind salary data, the median total compensation at Meta in 2025 hovers around $263,000, with many roles earning well above $400,000 or more when equity and bonuses factor in. These figures fueled Meta’s reputation as a coveted employer—one willing to lavish rewards on top talent. Now, however, laid-off workers who once believed they had solid job security are left wondering how a company famous for generous pay and benefits could seemingly turn on them overnight.
In all, Meta has signaled it would cut approximately 3,600 employees—about 5% of Meta’s roughly 72,000-person workforce globally. Meta’s leadership labeled these cuts as “performance terminations” or “non-regrettable attrition,” emphasizing the need to remove lower-rated employees while refocusing efforts. Several media reports have captured the controversy over this rationale grew when numerous laid-off individuals—some with solid or even positive performance reviews—went public, disputing the company’s claim that only underperformers were impacted.
Moving fast
As Meta continues to its “move-fast-and-break-things” ethos, it is now reinventing itself around AI, jettisoning a subset of engineers and managers judged to be underperforming. The implication, echoed in numerous posts on Blind, is that those able to adapt and “level up” in AI may thrive, while the rest wonder if they’ll be next on the chopping block. On that same forum, some workers have lamented that even earning a Ph.D. with an AI specialty in computer science was no longer a guarantee of lucrative employment.
Some observers note parallels here to Elon Musk’s approach at Tesla, where control remains tightly centralized under a single CEO making grand investments—and sometimes cuts.
During a recent interview on “The Joe Rogan Experience” we covered last month, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed just how central AI is to the company’s future, saying that AI would soon be able to do the work of a mid-level coder. He highlighted swift adoption of its Meta.ai assistant and teased Llama 4, the next evolution of Meta’s large language models. Yet amid all that investment in cutting-edge tech, the reality for many software engineers has been far less rosy.
I don’t know what happened to the industry.
Some industry watchers like Fortune have also noted that ascendent AI players like DeepSeek—an emerging competitor that Meta reportedly scrambled to understand via internal “AI War Rooms”—are raising the bar for next-generation machine learning breakthroughs. As a result, large platforms like Meta and Microsoft continue racing to secure top AI talent, sometimes overshadowing ongoing topics such as Microsoft’s rumored TikTok discussions on earnings calls.
Meanwhile, Meta’s own messaging has placed emphasis on “efficiency” and the importance of maintaining high performance standards. Executives say they will “backfill” many of the positions with new talent—particularly for AI-focused roles. These moves arrive at a time when the company is enjoying strong financials: Meta’s Q4 2024 revenue was up 21% year-over-year, with net income climbing 49%. Despite the turmoil for employees, investors generally greeted news of the layoffs positively. Over the past five days, its stock is up more than 2% trading at $719.80.
