Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has sacked around 24 employees at its Los Angeles offices for misusing their daily meal credits. The tech giant found that staff had been exploiting the system to purchase non-food items, such as toothpaste, laundry detergent, and even wine glasses—actions that have sparked questions about the ethics of employee perks in Silicon Valley.
The investigation into the misuse revealed that some employees, including a worker with an annual salary of $400,000, were using their meal allowances to buy groceries and household goods instead of meals.
This employee, who remains anonymous, admitted to the practice on the messaging platform Blind. “On days where I would not be eating at the office, like if my husband was cooking or if I was grabbing dinner with friends, I figured I ought not to waste the dinner credit,” the individual wrote.
This case, along with others, came to light as part of a broader HR investigation into how the meal credits were being used. Those found guilty of frequent violations were dismissed, while employees with minor infractions were reprimanded but allowed to keep their jobs.
“It was almost surreal that this was happening,” one dismissed worker commented, as reported by the Financial Times.
Meta has long offered free meals as a perk to its staff, particularly in its larger offices, including the sprawling Silicon Valley headquarters. For employees at smaller sites, the company provides daily credits, which amount to $20 for breakfast and $25 each for lunch and dinner, to be used on food delivery platforms. However, the investigation revealed that some workers were exploiting this benefit by ordering items that had little to do with food.
In 2022 and 2023, the company, valued at $1.46 trillion, cut around 21,000 jobs as part of a massive downsizing effort. The recent wave of terminations is also linked to restructuring efforts within Meta’s WhatsApp, Instagram, and augmented reality division, Reality Labs.
In 2022, Meta triggered employee backlash when it delayed its free dinner service at its Silicon Valley campus by 30 minutes to 6:30 pm, a move that made it harder for workers to stock up on food or take advantage of the company’s shuttle services.
Other tech giants are following suit. Google, for example, has reduced fitness classes and tightened its policy on laptop replacements. Office supplies like staplers and tape, once readily available, now have to be requested from reception desks.
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