‘Negative’ Facebook workers ‘cannot be allowed’ to stay at Meta, managers tell employees in harsh memo

It comes after Mark Zuckerberg said that ‘there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be’

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Meta has told managers that anyone “negative” for the company could be fired, as the social media giant becomes more hostile towards employees.

The company, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, told management that they need “to think about each person on their team and the value they are adding to Meta”, according to a leaked memo from Maher Saba, Meta’s head of remote presence and engineering, reported in The Information.

“If a direct report is coasting or a low performer, they are not who we need; they are failing this company. As a manager, you cannot allow someone to be net neutral or negative for Meta.”

Managers are asked to “identify anyone who ‘needs support’” and submit them through a company performance tool.

“Understand our high performance bar and hold your team accountable,” Mr. Saba wrote. “Identify people who need support early, partner with our Employee Relations team to get that support, and move to exit people who are unable to get on track.”

Goals should be set that are “ambitious yet achievable”, with employees “operat[ing] with the intensity needed for Meta’s success”.

Meta did not respond to The Independent’s request for comment before time of publication.

The leaked memo comes after previous reports earlier this month where Mark Zuckerberg said employees should brace for tough times and redundancies.

"Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here," he told employees.

"Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me.”

Meta initially planned on hiring around 10,000 engineers this year but dropped that number down to between 6,000 and 7,000.

It also comes as other companies, such as Twitter, are cutting staff. It recently fired 30 per cent of its recruitment team in a move that shocked employees - possibly sparked by Elon Musk’s potential buyout.

Snap also said it would slow its hiring process, and Netflix has conducted another bout of redundancies in the United States, firing 300 employees last month and 150 the month before.