Algorithm Randomly Picked Facebook Contractors Whose Jobs Were 'Taken Away': Report

An information technology service provider contracted by Meta to oversee Facebook moderators and other contractors told about 60 of them that their jobs will soon be "taken away," a new report revealed. The report revealed that an algorithm was used to select contractors who were removed "at random."

About 60 contractors were picked "at random" using an algorithm in a supposed recent layoff at Meta-contracted Accenture, a Thursday report by Insider revealed. According to the report, the affected contractors at the Austin, Texas office were told about the move in a Tuesday video call and were not given an explanation by unidentified Accenture representatives about why they will lose their jobs. The affected workers were reportedly told that their jobs will end by Sept. 2 but they will be paid through Oct. 3.

Insider has since asked for a comment from Facebook, to which the social media giant declined. A representative for Accenture denied that there were "layoff actions" taken by the tech company, Insider reported. Instead, the representative said affected workers have been told they can still reapply for new roles.

Earlier this month, an Insider report revealed how layoffs kicked off at Accenture's Austin office around mid-July. One worker who spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of possible retaliation told the outlet that the process of laying off people at Accenture "was messy."

Workers told the outlet that contractors were surprised when sudden meetings with Accenture Human Resources personnel were added to their calendars without earlier notice. Contractors were then individually approached by the HR to inform them that they were losing their jobs.

At that time, a spokesperson for Accenture said in a statement to Insider that it was "inaccurate to report that there is a layoff move in Austin. Beyond this, we do not comment on individual personnel moves."

News of the alleged algorithm-picked job removals at Accenture came about a year after video game payments company Xsolla laid off about one-third of its staff or approximately 150 people using an algorithm that decided which employees were "unengaged and unproductive."

At that time, Game World Observer unveiled an email sent to affected employees wherein Xsolla CEO and founder Aleksandr Agapitov said "my big data team analyzed your activities in Jira, Confluence, Gmail, chats, documents, dashboards and tagged you as unengaged and unproductive employees."

After news of the layoffs emerged, Agapitov said in a statement that the company wanted all of its employees "to think daily about how their actions and decisions affect the company's fate and success."