Meta has begun a fresh round of layoffs in 2025 affecting 5% of its total workforce in a bid to reduce costs and boost profits. However, unlike previous Meta layoffs which were executed under the banner of “Year of Efficiency”, this week’s restructuring comes as a part of the company’s attempt to be rid of low performers.
You could call it just another day in a post-Covid world. But to the 3,600 employees at Meta, it’s more than odd. This week’s fresh round of Meta layoffs targets employees who received low scores in their performance reviews after meeting some or none of their job goals.
“I felt blindsided when I received the email,” one affected employee told The HR Digest. “I have a strong track record, and there’s been no sign of any performance concerns over the last six months.”
This round of Meta layoffs in 2025 follows CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s announcement that the company will “move out low performers faster,” stating it’s going to be an intense year requiring the strongest talent.
What’s interesting is the Zuckerberg recently mentioned replacing “mid-level engineers” with AI. With the regulatory landscape witnessing a massive shift in 2025, it may come as no surprise if Meta plans to compete against OpenAI in coming years.
The current Meta layoffs in 2025 could be part of the company’s headcount downsizing as it pours billions in developing robust AI to outperform OpenAI.
Meta Layoffs of 2025: Who is affected?
According to Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton, notices regarding the Meta restructuring were set to go out to underperforming employees in the U.S. and several other countries on Monday.
According to the Meta memo, employees in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands will not be included in the Meta job cuts due to “local regulations,” while those in several other nations across Africa, Asia and Europe will receive the termination notifications between February 11 and 18.
In January, when the Meta job cuts were originally announced, Zuckerberg said in a note posted to an internal message board, “I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster”.
“We typically manage people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year,” Zuckerberg wrote. “But now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.”
Similar to previous Meta layoffs, Zuckerberg also said that the laid-off employees would receive a “generous severance”.
With the current round of Meta layoffs, the company is sending a clear message to its top performers that they’re seen and their hard work will be rewarded. As the company navigates through an “efficiency push” focused around AI, the future of social media, and smart glasses, it needs its strongest talent to be at their best.
Employees React to Meta Job Cuts
While Meta calls the latest 2025 job cuts as targeting low performers, an internal guidance sent last month by Hillary Champion, Meta’s director of people experiences, allowed managers to include employees from higher performance tiers if they didn’t meet the company’s reduction targets from underperforming employees alone.
This alone says much about Meta’s aggressive approach to outperforming OpenAI.
Some employees were caught off guard by their inclusion in the Meta’s surprise layoffs, as this internal guidance had previously only been shared with managers, and not the entire workforce.
“I felt blindsided when I received the email,” one affected employee told The HR Digest. “I have a strong track record, and there’s been no sign of any performance concerns over the last six months.”
On Meta’s internal communications platform, Workplace, several laid-off employees shared their performance reviews. One employee expressed disbelief at their “unexpected” termination, sharing performance reviews marked consistently exceeding expectations for four years. Another employee reported being laid off as part of Meta jobs restructuring shortly after returning from a parental leave, despite a positive performance review. “This cannot be real. I’ve managed to consistently score higher on my performance reviews,” they wrote.
Meta restructuring isn’t new to its workers. Over the past two years, Meta had slashed a large number of jobs to brave economic headwinds.
A round up of Meta’s layoffs over the years
| Date | % of workforce |
| 11/9/2022 | 11,000 (3%) |
| 3/14/2023 | 10,000 (12%) |
| 2/10/2025 | 3,600 (5%) |
Over 45% of companies expect layoffs in 2025. A large number of companies are downsizing in a bid to reduce costs, and layoffs in the tech industry could get severe. Get a detailed analysis of 2025 layoff predictions here.
Your story matters. If you’re a current or former Meta employee with information to share, The HR Digest wants to hear from you. Reach out to Pri Mistry via email.
