Enraged Meta employees question Mark Zuckerberg: Here's why
What's the story
Meta has been on a serious cost-cutting mission. The company has laid off around 21,000 employees so far to make 2023 the "Year of Efficiency," as CEO Mark Zuckerberg wanted.
However, things are not going as planned. The tech giant's employees are unhappy, and they took it out on Zuckerberg during a virtual Q&A session. Why did they do that?
Context
Why does this story matter?
Meta was one of the worst hit by the post-COVID tech meltdown. The company struggled due to overhiring, a fall in ad revenue, competition from TikTok, and macroeconomic headwinds.
Last year, the company's revenue declined for the first time since its IPO. Zuckerberg chose the path of austerity to find glory again.
He has been pushing hard for it since then.
Q&A
Employees questioned Zuckerberg over bonuses to top executives
Whatever Zuckerberg had in mind for the Q&A is not how it materialized. The CEO was at the receiving end of some harsh questioning by his employees.
Chief among them is how top executives were given six-figure bonuses while thousands of employees were fired. Notably, last month, the company lowered the bonuses of several staffers.
Question
Employee questions Zuckerberg on accountability
"Why did the entire executive team get EE/GE ratings when they are also directly responsible for the choices that led to us needing to lay off 20+% of the company," a frustrated employee asked Zuckerberg.
"EE" stands for "exceeds expectation" and "GE" means "greatly exceeds expectation."
"Where is the accountability," the enraged staffer asked Zuckerberg.
Information
Former COO Sheryl Sandberg received bonus
Top executives who received bonuses include CFO Susan Li, CPO Christoper Cox, COO Javier Olivan, CTO Andrew Bosworth, Strategy Officer David Whener, and former COO Sheryl Sandberg. Some were given bonuses as high as Rs. 7.7 crore.
Reply
Zuckerberg did not rule out more layoffs
If handing out bonuses irked the staff, Zuckerberg's reported reply may have antagonized them further.
The Meta CEO reportedly said he was happy with how the top executives performed in their newly expanded roles.
To make matters worse, he did not rule out more layoffs. He said, "I don't want to kind of promise that there won't be future things in the future."
Demoralized
Several Meta employees are demoralized
Several Meta employees are demoralized by two rounds of layoffs.
"You've shattered the morale and confidence in leadership of many high performers who work with intensity. Why should we stay at Meta," one of the staffers asked.
The CEO said they should stay because they believe in the company's mission. That is certainly not something that Meta employees wanted to hear from him.