Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly begun warning Meta staff of potential job cuts.
It sounds like Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg has been drinking from the same water fountain as Elon Musk, as the Meta CEO is tipped to make some divisive changes to its platforms. Similar to when Musk took over Twitter in October 2022 and came in with swathes of cuts and changes, Zuckerberg is apparently looking at a very different future for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
Originally founded as TheFacebook in 2004, it evolved into the Facebook we know in 2005, and has continued evolving ever since.
Zuckerberg has already tried to capture the future with a $46 billion investment into the controversial Metaverse, and in his latest headline-grabbing move, he’s rolling back Meta’s third-party fact-checkers.
Zuckerberg is accused of making Facebook like Elon Musk’s X
Alongside appointing Trump ally Dana White to the Meta board, he’s accused of making Facebook more like Musk’s rebranded X with his new free speech initiative. There are warnings that jobs will be lost as Zuckerberg attempts to use AI to streamline things, but these aren’t the only areas where he’s planning to slash his human workforce.
In a memo obtained by Bloomberg, Zuckerberg is said to have addressed Meta employees and suggested that 5% of its staff could be shown the door via ‘performance-based terminations’.
Even though there are plans to hire more to fill these roles, the news is sure to send shockwaves through the ranks of Meta.
In the memo, Zuckerberg reportedly wrote: “I’ve decided to raise the bar on performance management and move out low-performers faster.”
As Bloomberg notes, Meta employed around 72,000 people as of September 2024. A 5% cut would equate to about 3,600 jobs.
Zuckerberg’s memo continues: “We typically manage out people who aren’t meeting expectations over the course of a year, but now we’re going to do more extensive performance-based cuts during this cycle.” Only those who’ve been with Meta long enough for a performance review will be on the chopping block.
Donald Trump could be a lifeline for major tech companies like Meta (NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty)
The current performance cycle is expected to end in February, although those close to Meta who made these claims asked not to be named.
Those affected in the USA will reportedly be informed by February 10, with other territories finding out at a later date.
Trying to take the sting out of the news, Zuckerburg reassured those who lose their jobs will be given a ‘generous severance’ that aligns with previous cuts.
In 2023, Zuckerberg referred to it as Meta’s ‘year of efficiency’ and vowed to axe 10,000 jobs.
Things have changed since then, and in a note supposedly sent to managers, he says these performance-based cuts are to future-proof the company with the ‘strongest talent’ that will help ‘bring new people in’.
Bloomberg concludes that Meta’s headcount is tipped to be down by 10% at the end of its current performance cycle, including an extra 5% reduction from attrition in 2024.
This looks like a key time for Meta, but with Donald Trump heading back into the White House and the Meta CEO on much better terms with the returning POTUS, it could also be a time that Meta’s platforms get a helping hand from the incoming administration.
Mark Zuckerberg announces these jobs at Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp will be replaced by AI
Zuckerberg suggests it’s a good thing that will give people more free time
They warned us that artificial intelligence would be coming for our jobs, but more than just writers, customer service workers, and data entry professionals, others are learning their jobs are being overtaken by AI.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been grabbing headlines thanks to sweeping changes that confirm the company is loosening its rules on free speech, and now, he finds himself back in the news with more controversy.
As reported by Business Insider, Zuckerberg plans to automate coding jobs before the end of 2025.
Mark Zuckerberg is looking to an AI future for Meta
Speaking on The Joe Rogan Experience podcast where the tech entrepreneur fired shots at Apple, Zuckerberg explained: “Probably in 2025, we at Meta, as well as the other companies that are basically working on this, are going to have an AI that can effectively be a sort of midlevel engineer that you have at your company that can write code.”
Business Insider notes that the average midlevel engineer earns mid-six figures, and although an AI replacement will be expensive to get off the ground, there will be savings in the long run.
Zuckerberg added: “In the beginning, it’ll be really expensive to run, and you can get it to be more efficient.
“Over time it’ll get to the point where a lot of the code in our apps and including the AI that we generate is actually going to be built by AI engineers instead of people engineers.”
Arguing that this AI push will ‘augment’ workers, he continued: “My view on this is like the future people are just going to be so much more creative and they’re going to be freed up to do kind of crazy things.”
It’s important to note that Zuckerberg hasn’t specifically outlined any layoffs. Still, he dodged the issue when Rogan pushed on whether jobs would be lost.
With potential layoffs at Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, coding is poised to go from a highly sought-after role to one that’s surplus to requirement. Zuckerberg hopes that Meta will reach a point where all coding within its apps and even the AI it generates will be done by AI itself. That definitely sounds like the Dead Internet Theory to us, especially as Meta was already under fire due to plans to flood Facebook with AI accounts and replace real users with bots.
Meta’s coders aren’t the only ones at risk, and while not being replaced by AI, those who work on the company’s DEI initiatives could also be shown the door. Janelle Gale, Meta’s vice president of human resources, sent a memo to staff saying: “We will no longer have a team focused on DEI.”
Even though Zuckerberg points to how other tech giants are automating their jobs, that’s unlikely to take the sting out of a potential wave of layoffs as we’re replaced by AI.
Elon Musk has three-word response for Mark Zuckerberg as he confirms Meta will be copying X in a huge way
It’s all part of Zuckerberg’s promises to restore ‘free speech’
They say that if you can’t beat ’em, join ’em.
At least that seems to be what Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is doing, with his latest changes to Facebook and Instagram being accused of ‘copying’ X.
Alongside appointing UFC CEO and Trump ally Dana White to Meta’s board of directors, Zuckerberg announced an overhaul of its free speech rules. Zuckerberg claimed that the third-party fact-checkers that were given powers in 2016 aren’t working anymore, with concerns that people are being ‘wrongly’ placed in Facebook jail.
Instead, the shackles are being removed amid a bit to ‘restore free expression’ to Facebook via a new community note system.
While there are worries that slurs and hate speech will soon be flooding our feed, others have called it a win for Facebook.
Mark Zuckerberg is making sweeping changes to how free speech works on Meta platforms
One person who’s clearly taking note is Elon Musk. The X overlord has similarly been criticized for changes he’s made to the platform since he bought Twitter in October 2022 and rebranded it in his own image.
Musk and Zuckerberg have publicly sparred for years, with the pair challenging each other to a cage fight in 2023 and Musk more recently saying, “Any place, any time, any rules.”
It seems they can at least agree on one thing, with Musk giving a three-word response to Meta’s latest update.
Responding to the news of the X-inspired community note system and sharing a title that says “Facebook dumps fact-checkers in attempt to ‘restore’ free speech,” Musk simply wrote: “This is cool.”
This short and sweet response suggests that the rivalry between him and Zuckerberg has been drummed up for attention, and with Musk being firmly by the side of President-elect Donald Trump, some of the biggest tech companies around look like they’re trying to curry favor.
Apple’s Tim Cook has personally donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration, while Meta has also stumped up $1 million after Zuckerberg reportedly spent some time at the returning POTUS’ Mar-a-Lago residence
It’s all change at Meta HQ, as former UK deputy prime minister Nick Clegg is out as Facebook’s Head of Global Affairs and is being replaced by former Republican Party operator Joel Kaplan to lead its public policy operations.
Although there are grumbles that Facebook is becoming more right-wing, Zuckerberg argues it’s in response to previous political leanings. Discussing the changes, the tech mogul said: “Fact-checkers have just been too politically biased and have destroyed more trust than they have created.”
Facebook will now ‘get rid of a bunch of restrictions’ on issues ranging from gender to immigration, with Zuckerberg concluding: “What started as a movement to be more inclusive has increasingly been used to shut down opinions.”
With Trump once threatening to send the Meta CEO to jail for life and his book saying that he’ll be ‘watching’ Zuckerberg closely, there are plenty of theories about why these changes are being made and why it’s happening so close to Trump’s inauguration. Either way, the new-look Meta is set to be a divisive one.
Meta makes major changes to hate speech guidelines permitting users to say LGBTQ people are ‘mentally ill’
The guidelines previously prohibited users from referring to transgender people as ‘it’, which has since been scrapped
Warning: This article contains discussion of hate speech which some readers may find distressing.
Meta has made some major changes to its hate speech guidelines and will now permit users to say that LGBTQ people are ‘mentally ill’.
Similar to previous guidelines for Meta’s platforms, which includes Facebook, Instagram and Threads, users are prohibited from making insults about someone’s intellect or mental illness.
However, an amendment has been made to now allow billions of users to accuse others of being mentally ill based on their gender identity or sexuality.
Meta has made major changes to its guidelines
The guideline changes were made earlier this month and the new guidelines read: “We do allow allegations of mental illness or abnormality when based on gender or sexual orientation, given political and religious discourse about transgenderism and homosexuality and common non-serious usage of words like ‘weird’.”
Meta’s broader changes to how it moderates speech on its platforms will replace the firm’s fact-checking system, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Some of the changes to Meta’s guidelines on hate speech include the removal of rules that prohibit users from making insults on a person’s appearance based on disability, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, sex, gender identity, race, ethnicity, national origin, and serious disease.
The company previously forbade its users from referring to transgender people as ‘it’ but this has since been scrapped.
In a statement, President and CEO of GLAAD, Sarah Kate Ellis, said: “Without these necessary hate speech and other policies, Meta is giving the green light for people to target LGBTQ people, women, immigrants, and other marginalized groups with violence, vitriol, and dehumanizing narratives.
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is one of multiple companies that donated to Trump’s inaugural fund
“With these changes, Meta is continuing to normalize anti-LGBTQ hatred for profit — at the expense of its users and true freedom of expression. Fact-checking and hate speech policies protect free speech.”
Speaking to Sky News, LGBTQ charity Stonewall revealed it has requested a meeting with Meta to raise concerns over the guideline changes.
Simon Blake, who is the CEO of the charity, said: “Online hate and disinformation damages how society views and treats marginalised groups, and undermines societal cohesion.
“Meta’s approach puts politics above people when many are already concerned about the toxicity of online discourse, risking furthering division instead of fostering community.”
These changes coincide with President Trump’s return to the White House after his inauguration took place earlier this week (January 20).
Meta is one of multiple companies that donated $1 million to Trump’s inaugural fund.
Other firms who also donated to the event include Amazon, Apple and OpenAI.
UNILAD Tech has contacted Meta for a comment.
Ominous meaning behind message on Mark Zuckerberg’s shirt as he unveils Meta AI
Mark Zuckerberg’s bizarre custom-made shirt has a deeper meaning
Mark Zuckberg hasn’t always been recognised for his lavish fashion sense.
The Meta CEO was known to sport the same gray t-shirt day in and day out. Even with the abundance of millions to splash out on any clothes he sees fit.
Likely, as Zuckerberg instead prefers to set aside those millions for a 7ft tall statue of his wife instead. As you do.
This year the CEO had a glow-up, being photographed in designer jackets and eyeing up equally expensive watches.
However, now a brand-new shirt worn by Zuckerberg has caught everyone’s attention.
During Meta’s annual Connect event, Zuckberg wore the custom-made shirt. While delivering the keynote for the event, held on September 25th, Zuckerberg can be seen wearing an over-sized black shirt with gray writing.
Instead of being a flashy designer item, the shirt featured the words ‘Aut Zuck aut nihil’ in latin across the chest.
If your latin is a little rusty, don’t worry. The ominous text translates to “either a Ceaser or nothing.”
As you can probably guess, the latin phrase is not actually written by Zuckerberg. Instead, according to award winning author Sophie Swerts Knudsen, it was coined by Julias Ceaser, and refers to the “desire to succeed at all cost.”While he didn’t write the classical saying, Zuckerberg did design the shirt himself. Speaking in a Fall 2024 interview with the Acquired podcast, the CEO explained that he started working with others to design his own clothes.
“I figured, you know, look, we’re going to design eyewear, we’re going to design other stuff that people wear – lets get good at this.”
With the Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses already under his belt, a clothing line isn’t too far-fetched.
Zuckerberg went on to explain, that this new delve into clothing is part of a fashion line based on his favourite classical sayings. Previously, he was seen wearing a shirt with the phrase “Carthage Delenda Est.”
Spotted during a photoshoot shared on his Instagram for his 40th birthday, this classical phrase is another reference to the Roman Empire. This time around, the saying translates to “I believe Carthage must be destroyed.”
This shirt features the phrase in a gothic text, looking not too dissimilar to something out of Hot Topic.
As reported by TechCrunch, the saying refers to the the call for Rome to attack Carthage during the Punic Wars.
The Meta mogul hasn’t shared the common denominator between the designs. Outside his love for classical sayings anyway.
However, it could be Zuckerberg feels some connection between himself and the battles faced by some of histories biggest empires. Especially as a modern historical figure in the world of tech.
If you want to grab one these shirts for yourself, you’re out of luck. For now, Zuckerberg has made no indication these will be available for the general Meta-loving public.