Meta’s Latest Landscape: Soaring Profits Amid Dismal Employee Sentiment

As Meta employees prepare for layoffs scheduled for next Wednesday, May 20, many report an atmosphere that is alarmingly low in morale. “Everyone is unhappy; the only ones not unhappy are, quite literally, executives,” states an employee from Instagram.

The social media giant has plans to reduce its workforce by roughly 10 percent, equating to about 8,000 jobs, “to operate the company more efficiently” and “offset other investments,” according to a human resources representative. However, these layoffs, which add to the nearly 25,000 reductions Meta has announced in the last four years, are not the sole reason for the dismal morale.

Growing pay discrepancies, legal setbacks for the company, and enforced role changes for numerous senior engineers have also contributed to what employees perceive as an unusually bleak workplace at Meta. Additionally, the recent implementation of software on employee devices to monitor their activities in the name of AI training has raised concerns, according to 16 current and former employees from various departments who spoke with WIRED under the condition of anonymity due to company policies against unsanctioned communications with media.

“I don’t know anyone enjoying their time here,” shares a policy staff member. “The vibe is a bit ‘over it’—there’s a lack of connection to the mission, impending layoffs, and U.S. employees being utilized to train AI systems that could eventually replace them.”

Several employees seeking to leave are hoping to be laid off to qualify for a minimum of 16 weeks of severance and 18 months of healthcare coverage. As the Instagram employee articulated, “Everyone is just like, do it now, jesus fucking christ.” Only those with top compensation packages and tied to core AI development seem to be faring well, remarks a seasoned leader at Meta.

In the UK, employee frustration has escalated to the point where some are gathering signatures to establish a labor union. “Our leadership continues to exhibit cruel and shortsighted behavior,” organizers within the company wrote in a message to colleagues. “We need to create an avenue for them to treat us with basic humanity.”

United Tech & Allied Workers, claiming to be the UK’s largest union for tech employees, reported last week that Meta staff want to unite with them to safeguard their jobs, benefits, and privacy. Earlier this month, Google DeepMind employees in the UK voted to unionize with the parent organization, Communication Workers Union, due to concerns about selling AI technology to the U.S. military.

Employee protests are becoming a regular and prominent characteristic among top tech companies like Meta, Amazon, and Google. However, the latest issues at Meta seem to be more pervasive—so much so that they are reportedly impacting the firm’s recruiting efforts, as claimed by an employee (Meta disputes this claim). “There’s a lot of anger and fear,” adds a legal staff member. “It’s frustrating to witness, especially since it seems entirely unnecessary”—particularly given the robust performance of Meta’s advertising business.

While Meta largely refrained from commenting on specific details for this report, it referred to previous public statements defending its job reductions and new AI initiatives, including the monitoring software. “There are safeguards to protect sensitive material, and the data is not utilized for any other objectives,” Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton states.

Growing Dissatisfaction

Some employee grievances center around compensation. In February, for the second consecutive year, Meta decreased the share of annual raises disbursed in company stock, reducing it by an additional 5 percent on top of last year’s 10 percent cut. Median total compensation at Meta dipped to $388,200 last year from $417,400 in 2024, according to public filings, though Clayton noted that salaries are still trending higher than in 2022. Compensation has further been affected by a 5 percent drop in Meta’s stock this year as the company pivots from struggling virtual reality projects to increasingly expensive AI development. “For many employees, half their salary is in stock, so that stings,” remarks the Instagram employee.

The reductions in pay and jobs have come amidst consecutive quarters of strong profits for Meta, amounting to nearly $27 billion in the first three months of this year. Last year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg proposed to pay some leading AI researchers as much as $100 million annually, described by a former executive as “insane amounts of money compared to what anyone in that company has ever earned.”