Meta has dismissed approximately two dozen employees in Los Angeles who misused their $25 meal allowances to purchase domestic goods such as pimple removal pads, glassware for wine, and washing powder. The layoffs took place the previous week, shortly before the $1.5 trillion social networking company initiated separate reshuffling procedures within specific squads across WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs – its AR and VR division, on Tuesday.
This restructuring involves the dismissal and relocation of some employees, suggesting that CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s recent efficiency campaign is ongoing, according to several individuals with knowledge on the matter.
Similar to various other leading tech firms, Meta provides complimentary meals for its employees at the vast Silicon Valley home base, considering it as an employee benefit. Employees working in smaller offices without a cafeteria are given Uber Eats or Grubhub allowances for office food delivery.
Employees receive daily stipends of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $25 for dinner, distributed in $25 chunks. Those fired were found to be exploiting the food allowances over a considerable period, mentioned an informed source. Some employees had been merging their allowances, while others used them for home deliveries even though they were meant to be used in the office.
Those who had only occasionally infringed the company rules were scolded but not dismissed, the source noted further.
A post seen on the anonymous communication platform Blind, cited by The Financial Times, had a former Meta employee admitting to spending the $25 allowances on products such as toothpaste and tea from the Rite Aid pharmacy chain. They justified this by saying, “On days when I wasn’t eating in the office, like if my husband was cooking or if I was meeting friends for dinner, I reasoned it was best not to squander the dinner credit.”
An individual, who previously disclosed earning roughly $400,000 at Meta, was surprisingly dismissed from the company after admitting to a mistake during an internal HR investigation. The individual noted the surreal nature of the experience. Blind, a platform the person used, affirmed verifying the individual’s employment at the said company without needing any personal identification.
Meta decided to keep mum over the dismissals, but regarding broader staffing changes, said, “In order to align resources with long-term strategic aims and geographical planning, alterations are being made within a few teams at Meta. This encompasses relocating teams to alternate locations and shifting employees to diverse roles. During such scenarios when a role is disposed of, we strive diligently to identify different opportunities for impacted members of staff.”
Mark Zuckerberg has revealed his intentions to remove around 21,000 posts at Meta in two different phases in 2022 and 2023, labelling the latter as a “year of efficiency”. Furthermore, Zuckerberg discontinued less significant initiatives to propel slow moving growth and pacify shareholder worry about his expensive gamble on the metaverse.
The financial community has welcomed these cutbacks and the renewed emphasis on AI. Currently, Meta’s shares are selling at an all-time high of $577 each. This information is protected under the rights of the Financial Times.