Mumbai, February 11: In its restructuring efforts, Meta has begun notifying employees of a five per cent workforce reduction, potentially impacting nearly 4,000 jobs across the US, Europe, and Asia. The layoffs come as CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushes for stricter performance management, stating the company aims to "move out low-performers faster." Meanwhile, Meta is simultaneously expanding its engineering teams, particularly in machine learning, by expediting recruitment in key areas. The company has launched an aggressive hiring initiative, with plans to conduct hundreds of interviews over the coming weeks.

As per the Times of India report, the job cuts are part of Meta’s ongoing efforts to optimise its workforce while focusing on high-priority areas like artificial intelligence and machine learning. In an internal memo, CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasised the need to “raise the bar on performance management” and remove underperforming employees more quickly. He stated that while some roles are being eliminated, the company will actively hire for business-critical positions later this year. Meta’s focus on efficiency follows its earlier “Year of Efficiency” initiative, which led to over 20,000 job cuts in 2023. Meta Layoffs: Mark Zuckerberg-Run Platform Likely To Lay Off Around 3,000 Employees, Says Leaked Memo.

The latest layoffs highlight the company’s strategic shift toward a leaner, more AI-driven organisation. Despite the layoffs, Meta is aggressively recruiting engineers, particularly those specialising in machine learning. Peng Fan, Meta’s vice president of engineering, announced on the company’s internal platform, Workplace, that Meta plans to “hire many engineers in 2025.” To accelerate this hiring, Meta has introduced “ML Batch Day Interviews” starting February 11, conducting hundreds of interviews across software engineering and AI-related roles. Employees with interview training have been asked to assist in the hiring push. Meta Layoffs: Facebook Parent Company To Cut Jobs From Various Departments Starting on February 10 With Aim To Hire More Machine Learning Engineers.

This dual approach to jobs while recruiting AI talent suggests a realignment of resources toward next-generation technologies. Instagram’s head of engineering, Nam Nguyen, further reinforced the urgency of hiring, urging interviewers to conduct at least two interviews per week to meet evolving recruitment targets. Meta also aims to grow its interviewer pool by 20 per cent and achieve an acceptance rate of over 70per cent. As the company restructures, its focus on AI talent indicates a clear pivot toward innovation, even as thousands of employees face job losses.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Feb 11, 2025 08:42 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).