Meta set for mass layoffs

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is set to implement company-wide layoffs next week while simultaneously accelerating the hiring of machine learning engineers, according to internal memos reviewed by Reuters on Friday.

According to one of the posts, authored by Meta's Head of People Janelle Gale, notices will go out to employees losing their jobs starting at 5am local time Monday in most countries, including in the United States.

Additionally, it said that employees in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands will be exempt from the layoffs "due to local regulations". 

Meanwhile, those in more than a dozen other countries across Europe, Asia and Africa will receive their notifications between February 11 and February 18, it said.

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the posts.

The company confirmed last month that it was planning to trim about 5% of its "lowest performers" and backfill at least some of the positions. The Friday memo, in which Gale referred to the cuts as "performance terminations," was first reported by The Information.

Unlike with previous company-wide layoffs, Meta was planning to keep its offices open on Monday and would not issue any updates providing further details on the decisions, Gale said in her post.

A separate memo, posted by VP of Engineering for Monetisation Peng Fan also on Friday, asked staffers to assist with an expedited hiring process for machine learning engineers and other "business critical" engineering roles.

That process would take place between February 11 and March 13, Fan said in that post.

"Thank you for your continued support in helping us achieve our accelerated hiring goals, and better align with our company's priorities for 2025."