Facebook to purge thousands of workers as part of ‘quiet layoffs’: report

Facebook executives are in the process of executing “quiet layoffs” of underperforming workers that could lead to thousands of employees getting pink slips, according to a report.

Several employees that as much as 15% of the company’s workforce could be slashed within the next few weeks.

One employee told Insider that managers throughout the company were told to select at least 15% of their teams who are categorized as “needs support.”

Facebook employees took to the workplace app Blind, wher🌃e they speculated that it was likely whoever was placed in the 15% category would be out of a job.

Eliminating 15% of Facebook’s workforce means that some 12,000 employees could be out of a job.

Those who are deemed “needing support” are widely perceived to be failing to meet performance goals. These employees are then subjected to new requirements under a “performance improvement plan” (PIP) — which is seen as a precursor to losing one’s job.

According to Insider, Facebook’s chief engineer, Maher Saba, told managers in July that they needed to start identifying employees in their teams who fell into the category of “needs support” — though they did not specify a percentage.

The Post has sought comment from Facebook’s parent company Meta.

Insider quoted a Facebook employee as saying that management is already telling those who are “PIP-ed” that they need to look elsewhere for work.

“It might look like they are moving on, but the reality is they are being forced out,” the employee told Insider.

Facebook staffers have been bracing for layoffs for months. Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees that the company has frozen new hiring.

Zuckerberg blamed economic headwinds and warned that the company may be 🧜forced to undergo downsizing or restructuring.

“I had hoped the economy wou♑ld have more clearly stabilized by now, but from what we’re seeing it doesn’t yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively,” Zuckerberg reportedly said. His comments were

Zuckerberg said Meta would be slashing budgets across all of its departments and subsidiaries, including Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp🐻.

The CEO noted that during the first 18 years of Facebook’s existence, the company saw rapid growth. But sales 🗹and revenue figures from recent quarters have flatlined, according to Zu🎃ckerberg.

At its peak, Meta’s sto🅠ck price approached $380 per share. But in the last year, the company share price has shed some 60% of its value.

While Facebook maintains a dominant position in the mobile advertising market, serious questions have been raised as to whether it can continue to grow — particularly in the face of fieওrce competition from🅺 ByteDance’s TikTok.

Shares of Meta were trading 1.41% higher as of 9:45 a.m. Eastern 𒉰time on ꦦTuesday.

The economic🐲 downturn and grim projections are also forcing the company to abandon plans to e🌠xpand its commercial real estate footprint in New York City,

Meta is exercisi🅰ng its option to terminate its lease at 2🔯25 Park Avenue South, the news site reported.

The Park Avenue location was earmarked to serve as the company’s “bridge space” before expanding its operations and opening up new digs at Hudson Yards and the Farley Building near Penn Station in Midtown.

Despite the decision, Meta says it is “firmly committed to New York and further anchoring our local footprint.”