Former Meta employees who were laid off amid the tech giant’s recent firing spree are taking to social media to share their stories of learning the unfortunate news.
“Today is a strange day,” said Dylan Pacheco, a former META program manager.
Mark Zuckerberg released a statement Wednesday announcing that 13 percent of the firm’s workforce, a staggering 11,000 people, was being laid off. The CEO took responsibility for things not going well at the company, saying he “got it wrong”.
While apologizing to the sacked employees, he said that layoffs were a “last resort” to save the company. He added that most of the recruitment team was laid off as the company was freezing the recruitment process.
An Indian man, who had joined META just two days before he was fired, was shocked to read the mail on Wednesday. Himanshu V had moved to Canada for his new job but was asked to leave.
“I moved to Canada to join #Meta and 2 days after joining, my trip ended because I was hit by massive layoffs. My heart goes out to everyone going through this tough time. is,” he wrote in a LinkedIn post. Saying that he was uncertain about his future, like many others, he was suddenly fired.
“Let me know if you know of any positions or jobs for Software Engineer (Canada or India),” he also said.
Briana Sigro, a former Meta recruiter, said she was “scarred, unsure, frustrated, and now unemployed.”
She said she was excited to be working at the company she had dreamed of working for her “whole life” when she joined last year.
“I used to think on my commute to work ‘Wow, what if I ever get a chance to work at Facebook or Google!’ It felt like a dream that was unattainable,” wrote Sgro. “Even though all these things are gone today, I am so grateful to have experienced them.”
Like Sgro, many other employees thanked Meta despite the layoff. For some, it was their first experience of widespread scarcity.
“Today, I was separated from Meta. I never imagined my time at the workplace that I felt safe and finally ended up like this at home. My co-workers there. Absolutely brilliant and excellent talent,” wrote Cai Mailhes, another former recruit.
Not all reactions were positive. People told how they were affected. “Finding out you’ve been fired via email,” wrote former tech source, Nathan Magner.
“No warning, and was recently told by a lead that the team I worked on was a high priority and would not be affected,” said another.
Just woke up to find out I had been laid off by Meta/Instagram from an email. No warning, and was told recently by a lead the team I worked on was high priority and wouldn’t be affected. Company wide layoffs via email. Classy. I guess I have plenty of time for writing now.
— Carlos Giffoni (@carlosgiffoni) November 9, 2022
A communications manager who was on maternity leave said she received the e-mail at 5 am in the morning when she woke up to feed her three-month-old daughter.
“My heart sank,” Indian-origin woman, Anneka Patel, shared in a LinkedIn post.
“People would ask if it was tough working there with all the bad press, but I would tell them that I was lucky because I got to tell the good stories about the amazing Facebook groups out there, and the work these community leaders are doing to help change the lives of others,” she added.
A couple working at the company as technical recruiters expressed their frustration saying that they had just returned from their parental leave a few months ago.
The posts show that Meta has fired people from the US, UK, Ireland, Ghana and India. While Mark said that the most affected group was recruiters, others mainly affected by the fiasco included product designers, people from the marketing department, engineers, and those in Meta’s Reality Labs.
