Meta hikes bonuses for executives from 75% to 200% after laying off 3,600 employees

The updated bonus plan does not apply to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Meta stated in the filing.

Meta is set to offer bigger bonuses to its executives this year, the tech giant announced in a recent corporate filing. It stated that its named executive officers, apart from CEO Mark Zuckerberg, could earn a bonus of 200 percent of their base salary as compared to the 75 percent they used to earn previously.

"On February 13, 2025, the CNGC approved an increase in the target bonus percentage under the Bonus Plan for each of the Company's named executive officers (other than its Chief Executive Officer (the "CEO")) from 75% of each such named executive officer's base salary to 200% of each named executive officer's base salary, effective beginning with the 2025 annual performance period under the Bonus Plan," Meta stated in its filing.

A committee for Meta's board of directors approved the hike in bonuses after determining that the "target total cash compensation" for its executives "was at or below the 15th percentile of the target total cash compensation of executives holding similar positions" at rival companies.

"Following this increase, the target total cash compensation for the named executive officers (other than the CEO) falls at approximately the 50th percentile of the Peer Group Target Cash Compensation," the filing stated.

The disclosure comes a week after Meta began to lay off 5 percent of its global workforce or around 3,600 employees for “low performance” and has led to angry reactions on social media.

"Execs always think they are deserving of more money, regardless of their performance. And they rarely think regular workers are deserving of more money," X user @FishwrapGazette wrote. Another user @Crypto_Protech added, "Always more for the top, less for workers. Meanwhile, thousands are out of work looking for opportunities. I wish we could easily avoid Meta, but it's hard to avoid in this social media era."

A third user, however, pointed out that the move was to make Meta's payouts at par with peer companies, only the timing of the disclosure could have been better. "It's worth noting that the new bonus plan is intended to bring Meta's executive compensation more in line with industry standards. However, the timing of the announcement has raised eyebrows, given the significant job cuts happening within the company," commented @fiyyaz877.

Meanwhile, former Meta employees have called it the "cruelest" tech company, claiming that the layoff was "more about money than performance' and that they are being laid off on factors other than poor performance, such as taking leaves.

Read more: Meta lays off employee who worked for 15 years. She sues it for sexual assaults, denied promotions