Meta is set to lay off around 3,600 employees as part of its latest performance-based job cuts. Company CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced that approximately 5 percent of the company’s workforce will be affected, as Meta aims to accelerate its performance management process. According to Bloomberg report, in a memo to employees, Zuckerberg said that the company will move more quickly to remove low-performing employees. This follows Metra’s earlier decision to cut 10,000 jobs in 2023 in its “Year of Efficiency” campaign.

“I have decided to raise the bar on performance management and rapidly weed out low performers,” he said in a note shared with an internal message board.

Zuckerberg noted that the company typically addresses poor performance in a year but will now implement more sweeping cuts. Despite the layoffs, Meta plans to transition roles in 2025, positioning itself for future growth and innovation. The focus in the coming year will be on areas such as artificial intelligence (AI), smart glasses and evolving social media platforms, with Zuckerberg describing the upcoming year as “intense”.

“We typically manage people who are not meeting expectations over the course of a year,” he said, “but now we’re going to make more sweeping performance-based cuts during this cycle.”

Meta, which had about 72,000 employees as of September, is expected to notify affected US-based employees on February 10. Employees outside the US market working for Meta will be notified at a later date. The company reportedly aims to achieve 10 percent “non-regretful” attrition by the end of this performance cycle, continuing the same trend as last year.

Microsoft is also firing low performing employees

In a similar move, Microsoft is also reportedly preparing to target and fire low-performing employees. Although the company has not disclosed the number of employees affected, a recent report by Business Insider claims that multiple departments, including critical divisions, will be affected. Microsoft is following its long-standing practice of restructuring under CEO Satya Nadella, with the latest layoffs being made to focus on retaining a high-performing workforce.