Zuckerberg designated this year, February, as the “Year of Efficiency” with the aim of improving the company’s finances and making it more efficient. Layoffs became the lingering shadow over all employees’ heads.
From March to May, Meta carried out layoffs in three batches, totaling 10,000 people. The layoffs in April have not yet been fully completed, and the third round in May has just begun. This does not include the 20,000 people already laid off at the end of 2022. According to publicly available financial reports, once all the layoffs are completed, Meta’s workforce will decrease from its peak of 87,000 people to 67,000 people.
Leo is an engineer in Instagram’s London department and was affected by the second batch of layoffs in April. She hasn’t been with the company for long and still refers to the company as Facebook instead of Meta during conversations. In terms of experience, she belongs to the senior software engineer level, which is considered to be mature, stable, with the ability to lie flat, be promoted, and switch jobs, and it provides a sense of security at the L5 level.
As a member of the layoff storm, she appears calm. Layoffs in the UK can last from two to four months, so while waiting for the final negotiation results, she plans to interview and plan for the future.
She has worked in many different places, and she said that working as an engineer at Meta is exhausting but enjoyable, with a significant amount of influence. However, the company lacks a competitive advantage, and everyone is in a struggling state. She believes this is also the fundamental reason why Meta is going all-in on the metaverse.
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As for Zuckerberg’s announcement of layoffs in three batches, she believes that apart from the operational feasibility, there is also consideration for continuously driving the stock price.
Through her account, perhaps it can help you understand why there are still so many engineers who think Meta is a good company, despite the mockery from the outside about Zuckerberg’s stubborn attitude towards the metaverse.
L5 Engineers Are Not “Safe”
Either Receiving the layoff notice was quite unexpected for me because I didn’t think I would be affected. However, it turned out that our entire team received it.
According to UK law, if one person needs to be laid off out of 10 individuals in the same position and level, all 10 people will receive the notice stating “You are potentially affected.” At this point, we didn’t know how many people would be laid off.
Our entire team received the “potentially affected” notice because the expansion plans for Instagram changed, and the London branch was being shut down, relocating those team members back to the United States.
According to the company’s previous plan, they wanted the Instagram engineering team to operate globally. They envisioned having branches on the East Coast and West Coast of the United States, as well as an important team in the UK. However, it was later discovered that due to the time difference, efficiency was not very high. Simultaneously, the overall hiring freeze within the company also made recruitment in London difficult.
This layoff came with organizational adjustments, particularly flattening the hierarchy. On top of individual contributors (ICs), there were several layers of managers before reaching Mark Zuckerberg. Having five or six layers is normal, but having eight or nine is too many. Currently, there are places with excessive levels, and some managers may be laid off or given the option to transition to an IC role while simultaneously reducing the number of engineers.
To be honest, there is indeed structural redundancy within the company’s organization.
Our team is very busy, and the daily work is intense, but there are certainly teams that have it much easier. For example, some managers have eight people reporting to them, while others have only two managers without any other ICs. I believe this arrangement is not quite reasonable.
In 2023, around 10,000 people may be laid off, and as a result, some departments will undergo restructuring.
Zuckerberg explains the logic behind the layoffs
Zuckerberg personally explains the logic behind the layoffs: After the previous round of layoffs, company efficiency improved and many hidden costs were reduced.
In mid-March, the entire company received a notification email. This was followed by a company-wide Q&A session with Zuckerberg. He said that when layoffs occurred in November last year, employees complained about the lack of transparency in the company. Now, the company is being a little more transparent with them.
He explained the reasons for the layoffs and the logic behind them. The layoffs would be conducted in three waves. The first wave took place in March and involved around 1,500 people, mainly in the recruiting department. We didn’t know that the Recruiting department had 1,500 people. The second and third waves would take place in the third week of April and May, respectively.
The second wave would target technical personnel, including engineering teams and departments like the one I am in. Around 4,000 people would be laid off. In May, the number of people affected would likely increase to 5,000 to 6,000 (note: in late May, Meta announced a third wave of layoffs affecting 6,000 people). This wave would mainly focus on the business side, including marketing and sales. Not many engineers would be laid off unless the projects they were working on were really bad.
Zuckerberg explained the reason for the three waves of layoffs, stating that only the Recruiting department could be laid off first. After laying off technical personnel, they would then assess how to approach the layoffs in the Business department. It sounds reasonable, but I suspect there might be considerations related to sustaining the stock price.
He provided many reasons for the layoffs, and one of them was particularly hard for me to accept, although it seemed normal when I thought about it.
He said that the layoffs in November were successful in improving efficiency, and he didn’t expect that they could eliminate so many hidden costs. So, he wanted to push harder. Some projects were shut down, and the cost savings included not only the expenses related to those projects but also transportation and communication costs associated with them.
I don’t think he was “acting” when he said these things. He just said what he thought.
The hidden implication is that he believes there might still be many people in the company who are holding it back and that they don’t need so many employees. Some projects should indeed be shut down, and he wants to focus on profitable projects or things with potential.
Company and individual interests can never align completely, so from his perspective, I think it’s entirely reasonable. It’s just that after he said it, I was shocked. I already have difficulty being accepted when I speak, and he made it even more difficult for me to be accepted.
However, that’s the beauty of Q&A sessions. The questions are sharp, and we enjoy seeing him in the Q&A format.
He is an engineer through and through. He is the only engineer who became a CEO in a big company. I noticed this when I joined Facebook.
🔍Vote for Employee Representative Negotiates Who Will Be Laid Off
In the UK, there is a negotiation process that can last more than two months. Two weeks after receiving the layoff email, the company provides time to vote for negotiation representatives. The number of representatives is determined based on the number of affected individuals, currently at a ratio of 50:1.
Since everyone has different demands, the representatives strive to cover everyone’s concerns. Some people want to stay, some want more severance pay, and some wish to relocate to the United States. Each person expresses their own priorities, and if you like a particular representative, you can vote for them.
For example, people from war-torn countries like Ukraine and Russia prioritize staying in the UK and hope for priority transfers. Some might say, “I have worked in the US and the UK for many years and I’m familiar with visa matters, so I can help you achieve a favorable outcome.” Others might say, “I am a manager who has been laid off before, and I have also laid off others. I have extensive knowledge in this area.”
These colleagues efficiently establish numerous WhatsApp groups, create timelines on Google Docs, gather all resources, and engage with labor unions for online voting. It is a spontaneous effort without organization. By taking three days off work, they can accomplish so much. I find it surprising, but also inevitable. Therefore, I’m delighted that my colleagues are truly capable.
These representatives negotiate with the company for about a month, engaging in collective consultations. On the first day of negotiations, the company informs these representatives about the specific number of employees to be laid off.
They act as messengers, discussing with us until they achieve an agreement that everyone considers acceptable (a package). There are many aspects to discuss: how much compensation, whether some people can be retained, whether there are opportunities for internal transfers or relocation to the US. Some people are concerned about visas, so they negotiate for reduced compensation, allowing them to remain on the payroll for a while, giving those on visas a chance to find employment.
During this period, the criteria for layoffs are determined through discussions among us, the representatives, and the company. For the November layoffs, the criteria were established based on the previous performance reviews, years of service, a yearly increase of 0.5 points, and other evaluation dimensions. The total score for each person is calculated, and sorting determines who is affected.
I belong to Instagram in the UK, and there is an additional variable if you consider transferring to the US. During collective consultations, representatives from Instagram receive more options. However, since the entire department is being eliminated, the scoring phase is irrelevant, and in principle, no one will be retained.
After collective consultations conclude, the affected individuals enter individual consultations. If legal fees are involved, the company will reimburse them.
The company will consider individual circumstances, but you must express your demands. Everything can be discussed openly. For example, you can mention being the sole source of income for your family or having one child. However, saying “I have three children, and my wife is pregnant again” would be more persuasive.
In the US, they simply provide the money. Some of my colleagues received layoff emails on April 18th and left with their severance packages within two days. In the UK, those who are not on probation can leave directly on the same day. According to the official statement in the US, they compensate with 16 weeks of salary, plus an additional 2 weeks for each year of service. If you want to sue the company, you can do it later, but you must leave on the same day.
⚖️The Dilemma During Negotiation Period
In theory, I should continue working before the start of collective consultations. However, I don’t feel motivated because regardless of whether I work or not, the company will still lay me off.
However, there is a dilemma here: you might not end up being laid off, and if you didn’t work during this period, your performance review next year might suffer, increasing the chances of being laid off then.
Among the people who were laid off in April, some had stayed since October of the previous year. There were a few people in London who didn’t work much during October and November of the previous year, going through the current process, and in the end, they were retained. But in April, due to their poor previous performance, they were still laid off.
Since the previous round of layoffs, we have been working diligently because our team was not affected by the November layoffs. We have been contemplating how to proceed next year and haven’t spent much time studying the layoff process there.