Layoffs Expected At Meta At The ‘Year Of Efficiency’- Is Reducing Salaries Of Top Management Can Be A Possible Solution To Stop Layoffs?

In its ‘Year of Efficiency,’ Facebook parent Meta is implementing the second round of layoffs, impacting around 10,000 individuals. The laid-off Meta workers have now taken to social media to accuse the Mark Zuckerberg-led corporation of being callous and claiming that the recent mass layoffs were not based on performance. At least two of the fired employees claimed their employment was terminated while on maternity leave.

As per Sara Schneider from the Talent Acquisition team at Meta, her maternity leave at Meta was unfortunately cut owing to the catastrophic Meta Layoff. She said that this layoff was not based on performance.

Andi Allen, whose LinkedIn profile claims to be a senior technical recruiter at Meta-Data Center Strategy, said on the social networking website that she was part of the recent Meta layoffs despite being on maternity leave. She adds that she understands market trends that focus on the bottom line of the business but doesn’t comprehend how Meta’s leadership erred so horribly that they were forced to lay off thousands of staff members and still claim to take care of those who work for them.

The female employees criticized Meta for implementing such drastic cost-cutting measures. They asked CEO Mark Zuckerberg if he had accepted a pay cut. 

Is Meta firing employees at the cost of increasing personal security?

The Board of directors at Meta recently resolved to increase the budget for the protection of Mark Zuckerberg by 40%. The billionaire was earlier entitled to a security budget of $10 million, which is increased to $14 million. The move comes at times when Facebook and Instagram CEO Mark Zuckerberg has eliminated thousands of positions and trimmed expenditure projections. According to sources from last month, Facebook parent Meta Platforms Inc has postponed finalizing the budgets of numerous departments as it prepares for a new wave of layoffs.

According to Meta, the higher allowance, and the expenditures of the CEO’s current comprehensive security package, are acceptable and essential given the circumstances. The 38-year-old Zuckerberg has been ranked the 16th richest person on Forbes’ billionaire list, receiving around $27 million in 2021. His compensation for last year has yet to be revealed by the corporation.

There are chances of a second round of mass layoffs at Meta.

Meta has chosen to perform another round of mass layoffs by decreasing its employment by 10,000 people. This layoff follows a November effort in which over 11,000 individuals, or around 13% of the workforce, were reduced. In a recent email to staff, Meta CEO Zuckerberg stated that the tech titan will execute many rounds of job cutbacks in the upcoming months, discontinue certain projects and reduce hiring rates.

There is another point of concern to observe.

There is an unusual event that occurred in the last few months which should be considered on a serious note. Many firms have laid out those female employees who were on maternity leave. If layoffs are necessary, then they should be done based on performance. What is the point of laying off an employee who is on maternity leave? Is the firm afraid that their involvement and contribution would be decreased once they reach the stage of motherhood, and thus the company no longer wants them? If this is the case, steps should be taken to stop such conduct and layoffs, which violate the fundamental rights of an employee.

Can there be a solution to this?

In times of downturn, every individual and family suffer. So it is the responsibility of the upper management to keep this in mind before smashing the lives of employees with mass layoffs. One solution to this is to reduce compensation structures from top to bottom. This will help the company to reduce costs and at the same time, it will create a sense of trust and faith among employees that their company was standing with them even in times of darkness. 

Famous Indian entrepreneur and shark Mr. Ashneer Grover has suggested a similar kind of opinion on the context of layoffs. 

Another example is an American entrepreneur Dan Price, who spoke with his staff, convinced them to accept lesser salaries, and dropped his compensation to save the firm and avoid the risk and trauma of layoffs.

The ending note of hope to all the Meta employees.

With CEO Mark Zuckerberg referring to 2023 as a “Year of Efficiency,” Meta stated in February that it anticipated its costs to fall between $89 billion and $95 billion. If a firm can’t keep its staff, it’s tricky to see how a year can be “Efficient” for it. Are the salaries of those who worked long and hard in the past to get Meta to its current state being compromised for the sake of “Efficiency”? It is high time that tech giants like Meta and others are answerable to all the queries of their employees!

Edited and proofread by Nikita Sharma