Nigerian Workers at Risk as Meta Plans to Sack 5% Global Workforce

In a memo to staff, the chief executive of the technology company, Mr Mark Zuckerberg, said he had decided to “move out low-performers faster”, ahead of what he said would be an “intense year”, and would be accelerating the company’s usual performance management system.

Meta employed 72,000 people globally at the end of September 2024, according to its latest financial report, meaning that 3,600 workers could be affected by the planned cuts.

The company plans to hire new people to fill the roles later in the year.

The announcement came just days after Meta said it would get rid of third-party fact checkers and would prioritise free speech as US President-elect Donald Trump prepares to return to the White House next week.

The tech firm is also terminating its diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) programmes.

This development will likely affect its workers in Nigeria less than two years since the tech giant laid off about 35 members of its Nigerian team as part of a global layoff round in mid-2023, which affected over 10,000 workers.

Meta employees in the US who are affected by the job cuts are expected to be notified by 10 February, while those in other countries will be told at a later date.

“I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management,” Mr Zuckerberg wrote in the memo.

“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.”

“This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams,” he said.

The terminations will only include staff who have been at Meta long enough to qualify for a performance review.

Mr Zuckerberg also said the company would “provide generous severance” in line with previous job cuts for those who lose theirs.