Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and other tech arms, is expected to conduct company-wide and global layoffs from Monday, February 10, as per an internal memo, Reuters reported.

Further, while the job cuts begin next week, Meta also plans to expedite hiring of machine learnings (ML) engineers, the memo sent to employees showed, it added.

A Meta spokesperson did not respond to queries, the report added.

Meta Layoffs to Begin From February 10

• According to the Reuters report, citing a post by Janelle Gale, Head of People at Meta, fired employees will begin receiving notices starting from 5 am local time in most countries, including the United States.
• However, there are some exempt. Local laws in France, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands, will protect employees in these countries from Meta’s job cuts.
• More than a dozen other employees in Africa, Europe and Asia, however, will be handed pink slips between February 11-18, the report added.
• Gale in her post, also noted that unlike previous job cuts, Meta would keep its offices open on February 10.

Hiring for Machine Learning Roles ‘Expedited’

Further, the report cited a separate memo by Peng Fan, VP of Engineering for Monetization at Meta, which asked employees to “assist with an expedited hiring process for machine learning engineers” and other “business critical” engineering roles.

According to the memo, the hiring is likely to be conducted from February 11 to March 13, and Fan stated: “Thank you for your continued support in helping us achieve our accelerated hiring goals, and better align with our company’s priorities for 2025.”

Meta Jobs on the Chopping Block

Earlier in January, citing an internal note to employees from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Bloomberg had reported that Meta Platforms is cutting around 5 per cent or 3,600 jobs based on performances and will re-hire for those roles, according to a Bloomberg. It had said that impacted employees would receive notifications by February 10.

The memo sent to all employees by Zuckerberg said, “I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster… We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”

He added that only employees who have been with the company long enough to be eligible for a performance review will be included and Meta would “provide generous severance” in line with past cuts. As of September 2024, Meta employed close to 72,000 people, a 5 per cent cut would thus affect at least 3,600 jobs.

(With inputs from Reuters, Bloomberg)