An unexpected twist: it became known why Meta fires its employees
17 October 2024 16:53
As reported by "Komersant Ukrainian", after a “year of efficiency”, Meta is again laying off employees in WhatsApp, Instagram and Threads. Officially, the company explains this as another optimisation. However, the Financial Times writes that the real reasons for the new wave of layoffs are somewhat different.
For example, Meta recently fired about twenty employees in Los Angeles for misusing company food benefits. Employees used their $25 meal allowance to purchase household items such as skincare products, wine glasses, and laundry detergents.
Like many other tech giants, Meta provides free food to its employees, especially at its headquarters in Silicon Valley. In smaller offices without canteens, employees receive credits for food delivery through Uber Eats or Grubhub. Daily limits are $20 for breakfast and $25 for lunch and dinner.
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Those employees who were fired systematically abused these credits by ordering groceries for home use or pooling credits with colleagues. According to the source, some employees were only reprimanded if their violations were infrequent.
On Blind, a platform that allows for anonymous messaging, one former Meta employee wrote that he used the credits to buy items such as toothpaste and tea. According to him, if he did not eat in the office, for example, due to personal plans, he decided to use the credit for other needs so as not to lose the opportunity to “use the money”. He did this despite earning about $400,000 a year.
But it seems that optimisation of the company is really necessary – the European Union recently fined Meta €91 million for improper password storage.
