A new memo from one of Meta‘s human-resources executives explained to managers on Tuesday how the company’s performance-based job cuts will work in coming weeks.
Hillary Champion, Meta’s director of people development growth programs, instructed managers to categorize employees into performance tiers based on their contributions over the past year, according to the memo, a copy of which was obtained by Business Insider.
Meta aims to reach 10% non-regrettable attrition by the end of this performance cycle, combining last year’s 5% with an additional 5% this year, Champion wrote in the memo. These are employees that the company wouldn’t consider a loss if they left.
She signaled that Meta is ramping up pressure on under-performers and trying to move quicker in making decisions about who stays and who goes.
“We have really ambitious goals, so we need to manage our workforce in a way that ensures we have the strongest talent working here and can move faster in managing out low performers so that we can bring new people in,” Champion explained.
Her guidance for managers came shortly after Meta told employees it’s preparing to cut about 5% of its lowest-performing staffers as part of an effort to “raise the bar.” Meta intends to backfill these roles in 2025.
Meta’s performance ratings, and who will be cut
BI also obtained a copy of Meta’s internal performance guidance on Tuesday. This document describes several categories, one of which is “Met Most Expectations.” Other ratings include “Met Some” and “Did Not Meet.”
“Anyone who receives a rating of ‘Met Some’ or ‘Did Not Meet’ will be automatically added to the performance termination list,” Champion told Meta managers.
“The number of people in the ‘Met Most’ category to be terminated will vary,” she added.
This depends partly on whether Meta’s 10% non-regrettable attrition target is met. Champion shared a theoretical example: If a team had 5% non-regrettable attrition in 2024, and then put 3% of employees in the “Met Some” rating, an extra 2% of workers from the “Met Most” group will need to be cut to hit the 10% total.
The upcoming job cuts are part of a broader Meta strategy to reshape its workforce and drive efficiencies in the midst of huge investment in AI, virtual reality, and the future of social media.
Last week, the company rolled back diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives and disbanded its third-party fact-checking program.
Here’s the memo from Champion:
Manager Update for the Performance@ ProcessFollowing up on Mark’s announcement today, I want to share some details about the role you will need to play through this performance cycle, and offer some guidance on how to lead through this.What’s HappeningHow Performance Calibrations will WorkBelow is a topline view of what to expect. HRBPs will guide teams through this and provide more details during calibrations.– This will be a normal calibration process and we will use the time to identify our strongest performers in addition to our lowest. We will discuss all ratings, flags, edge cases and promotions as usual.
As you go through calibrations, your HRBP will also help you differentiate performance by utilizing the Met Some rating more than we have in the past. Anyone who receives a rating of “Met Some” or “Did Not Meet” will be automatically added to the performance termination list. Later in the calibration process, your Director and VP will review those with a “Met Most” rating to determine who will be terminated to meet the required 10% target. The number of people in the “Met Most” category to be terminated will vary, depending on your org’s 2024 non-regrettable attrition rate and how many people are rated “Met Some” or “Did Not Meet” You should use the flag and notes features within the performance tool to make any recommendations about whether someone with a “Met Most” rating should be included in the performance terminations or not.
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