Meta layoffs in Singapore & other countries took place on 10 Feb, according to internal memo
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has laid off a number of employees in Singapore.
This was revealed in a LinkedIn post by a product manager working at Meta’s Singapore office.
Source: Google Maps
Meta Singapore layoffs were ‘deeply emotional’
In the post made on Tuesday (11 Feb), the user said the Meta layoffs took place on Monday (10 Feb).
They were “deeply emotional and challenging” even though these were not the first wave of layoffs she witnessed. She added:
Each time, it’s heartbreaking to wake up and see deactivated profiles — colleagues who suddenly can’t log in anymore, facing an uphill battle to move forward.
Some affected had taken maternity or parental leave
The product manager revealed that some of the affected staff were laid off after returning from maternity leave or parental leave that they took last year.
While those who were cut have been labelled as “low performers”, she felt that the reality was “more complex”, noting that:
Low performance at Meta often means top performance elsewhere.
She also added that the cuts were executed with an “axe” instead of a “scalpel” — meaning those affected were still incredible talents.
Source: Google Maps
Meanwhile, a former Meta employee in the United States claimed in a LinkedIn post that he knew someone who had worked for 11 years without a bad performance rating but was laid off after returning from parental leave.
Another tech worker in the US claimed a Meta employee who returned from maternity leave was labelled as a “low performer”.
Performance was cited as a reason why employees were being terminated, according to a screenshot of the email those affected had purportedly received.
Source: LinkedIn
Support session for affected Meta staff organised
Mr Christopher Fong, President of career networking platform Key, also acknowledged the Meta layoffs this week on LinkedIn.
He co-organised an in-person support session for former Meta employees on Thursday (13 Feb), saying:
We want to share our learnings on how to bounce back from a layoff, consider career opportunities and provide support whether it’s a coffee, hike or conversation to any tech professional that needs it.
The event was co-organised with two former Meta staff who also lost their jobs during previous rounds of layoffs, reported The Straits Times (ST).
One of them, Ms Grace Clapham, said a wide range of positions were cut in Singapore, including roles in engineering, partnerships, global business operations and policy.
Another co-organiser, Mr Anand Kumar Ramakrishnan said two employees who were laid off had returned to work from paternal leave and medical leave at the end of 2024.
The person who went on medical leave had been told by human resources that it wouldn’t affect her performance rating, he added.
Meta is a non-unionised company, the Creative Media and Publishing Union told ST.
Meta layoffs were predicted on earlier this month
The layoffs were predicted by Reuters, which reported on 7 Feb that it would start from 9pm Singapore time globally on 10 Feb.
It cited an internal memo from Meta’s Head of People Janelle Gale, who described the layoffs as “performance terminations”.
Staff in more than a dozen countries in Europe, Asia and Africa will be notified of their termination between 11 Feb and 18 Feb, she said.
This excludes employees in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands “due to local regulations”, she added.
Another memo, reportedly from Vice-President of Engineering for Monetization Peng Fan on 7 Feb, urged staff to expedite the hiring of machine-learning engineers, according to Reuters.
Also read: Meta Cuts Over 11,000 Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg Says He Would Take Responsibility For ‘Big Mistake’
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Featured image adapted from Google Maps and Google Maps.
