Tech Layoffs: Meta Business VPs Hit In Zuckerberg's 'Flattening' Strategy, Report Says

Several business vice presidents at Meta have been affected by the "flattening" strategy that CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced earlier this year, a new report reveals as the tech reckoning continues at the social media platform.

Many workers from management and vice president levels shared "badge" posts, or exit posts on internal forums in recent weeks, two people with knowledge of the matter told Insider on Monday. They said badge posts felt "constant" in recent weeks, adding that an upcoming round of layoffs at Meta is expected to be more extensive than previous rounds, which hit the engineering and tech divisions last month.

The company is expected to slash about 6,000 jobs by next week.

The sources told Insider that most of the executive employees who were part of the recent "quiet layoffs" were allowed to leave the company or find new jobs much ahead of next week's layoffs.

Four executives have reportedly left Meta in recent weeks, the latest being William Platt-Higgins, who joined the social media platform in 2012 as a VP of global client partnerships. The tech giant's Austin office will potentially be affected by the new round of layoffs. Meta's commerce business group VP Katherine Shappley, who is based in the Austin office, is reportedly leaving the company at the end of May after 13 years, the report said.

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the matter, according to Insider.

In February, a source told the Washington Post that Meta was looking to implement a "flattening" strategy that will see some lead roles pushed into lower-level positions. When Meta reported its Q4 2022 financial results, Zuckerberg told investors the theme for 2023 was the "Year of Efficiency."

In March, the tech mogul told employees the company was expecting restructuring plans "focused on flattening our orgs, canceling lower priority projects, and reducing our hiring rates" in the coming months.

"We expect to announce restructurings and layoffs in our tech groups in late April, and then our business groups in late May," he said. "As I've talked about efficiency this year, I've said that part of our work will involve removing jobs."

Zuckerberg said around 10,000 people will be affected by the April and May layoffs.

Several other divisions have also been affected by the "flattening" restructuring strategy.

Meta laid off most of its anti-misinformation unit last month and transferred some of the members to trust and safety teams.

When the company implemented its first round of layoffs in November last year, Zuckerberg said Meta needed to "become leaner and more efficient." Following last month's layoffs that affected Meta's tech divisions, some employees expressed their frustration on an internal company forum, Reuters reported.

"You've shattered the morale and confidence in leadership of many high performers who work with intensity. Why should we stay at Meta?" one person wrote.

Aside from the mass layoffs, absenteeism among company leaders has also reportedly affected employee morale at Meta, the New York Times reported.

Erin Sumner, who was affected by the November layoffs, told the Times that many workers "feel like they're in limbo." "They're saying it's 'Hunger Games' meets 'Lord of the Flies,' where everyone is trying to prove their worth to management."

While rank-and-file employees were asked to return to the office, the absence of many top executives from Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, California, has affected the workplace environment, current and former employees told the outlet.

Meta is just one of the hundreds of tech companies that laid off thousands of employees in recent months, including big tech giants Amazon, Google, Microsoft and even previously resilient Apple.