Woman, laid off from Meta, claims employees who took leaves were targeted: 'I was blindsided'

Zuckerberg’s email also suggested that splitting companies could yield benefits.

Tech giant Meta has commenced a new round of layoffs, aiming to reduce its workforce by 5%. The job cuts, which will impact approximately 3,600 employees across Europe, Asia, and the United States, were reported by Business Insider.

In an internal memo, Meta stated that the layoffs were performance-based, targeting employees who had failed to meet expectations. However, several affected employees have disputed this claim, insisting they had never received poor performance reviews.

One such employee, who served as a product counsel for MetaWorks for over three years, was among those laid off earlier this week.

Based in Washington DC, she took to LinkedIn to criticise Meta’s decision, refuting the claim that her dismissal was performance-related. She suggested that she was “collateral damage” of Mark Zuckerberg’s “newfound masculine energy”, referencing a recent controversial remark made by the Meta CEO.

She revealed that she was laid off weeks after returning from a six-month maternity leave, and expressed shock at the decision, as she had never received a negative performance review during her tenure.

"Meta laid me off yesterday in its ‘performance-based’ layoffs, and I was blindsided," she wrote.

"I have never received a review below ‘Meets All’ in my 3+ years at Meta, and I was on maternity leave for six months until November."

She further alleged that Meta disproportionately targeted employees who had taken recent leaves, despite the company claiming otherwise.

"It is very hard to believe that – despite Meta indicating my expectations are prorated – I did not do enough. Many laid off today have similar stories – a history of good performance, and a recent leave of absence," she stated.

She provided an overview of her role and achievements at Meta, expressing gratitude for her colleagues at Reality Labs Legal, describing them as a close-knit team.

"Even when I disagreed with product direction or was disappointed by Meta in the news, my clients and colleagues kept me energised! I have never worked in a place where every person I work with is someone I would be friends with outside of work," she wrote.

However, she did not hold back in criticising Meta’s leadership, listing several aspects of the company she would not miss.

"Here’s what I won’t miss: my career trajectory being completely at the whim of product decisions I have no control over, mental overload, 34-page one-pagers, having 62 tabs open, deprecating beloved products because they weren’t ‘moonshot’ enough for Zuck, Zuck’s newfound ‘masculine energy’ and being its collateral damage," she stated.

Her remarks referenced a controversial statement by Mark Zuckerberg, who recently told podcast host Joe Rogan that American companies had become neutered and needed to regain their “masculine energy”.

The latest round of layoffs comes shortly after Meta ended its Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) programme. The move followed the election of Donald Trump as US President, a shift that has led to growing corporate focus on efficiency over social initiatives.

While Meta maintains that the job cuts were strictly performance-related, employee backlash continues to grow.