Meta launched a sweeping round of layoffs on May 20<\/strong>, with thousands of employees worldwide receiving an early-morning email from company leadership informing them their roles had been eliminated. The message, obtained by Business Insider<\/em>, outlined severance terms, visa guidance, and the immediate removal of system access \u2014 all delivered before most recipients had started their workday.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The move follows a memo earlier in the week from Meta’s Head of People, Janelle Gale<\/strong>, who described a structural shift toward “flatter organisations” operating in “smaller teams of pods and cohorts.” Meta has also confirmed that approximately 7,000 workers<\/strong> have been reassigned to newly formed teams focused on artificial intelligence products and agents.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The email opened with a brief acknowledgment of prior announcements before delivering the core message: “Unfortunately, your role has been eliminated as part of today’s reorganisation.”<\/em> It framed the cuts as part of an ongoing effort to “run the company more efficiently” and to “offset other investments” being made across the business.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Affected employees were directed to Meta’s Alumni Portal<\/strong> (Meta.com\/alumni), accessible within one hour of losing internal system access, for further details on pay, benefits, and immigration support.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Laid-off employees were placed immediately into a paid non-working notice period<\/strong>, during which internal access is revoked and no further work is required. Staff continue to accrue paid time off until their official termination date, with remaining balances paid out in a final paycheck.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Benefits and full salary remain in place through the termination date, along with any RSU grants vested<\/strong> on or before that date under Meta’s Equity Incentive Plan.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Full-time employees are eligible for a severance payment calculated as follows:<\/p>\n<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/p>\n Employees must sign a Separation Agreement \u2014 sent separately to their personal email \u2014 to receive the severance payout. Those who secure a different role at Meta at least one week before their termination date will remain employed and forfeit severance eligibility.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The email acknowledged the particular difficulty faced by employees on Meta-sponsored visas<\/strong>. General immigration guidance and contact details for assigned law firms are available through the Alumni Portal, with case-specific queries handled via a support ticket system on the same platform.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Badge access was deactivated immediately<\/strong> upon notification, with internal system access removed the same morning. Employees already on-site were asked to collect personal belongings and leave. Instructions for retrieving items at a later date are available on the Alumni Portal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n The layoffs form part of Meta’s stated strategy to reduce organisational layers and redirect resources toward AI development. The company’s leadership closed the email with a note of thanks: “Your impact at Meta has been an important part of our story.”<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p>\n For the thousands receiving that message before dawn, the sentiment arrived alongside a deactivated badge and a countdown to severance.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Meta Begins Mass Layoffs, Employees Notified by Early-Morning Email Meta launched a sweeping round of layoffs on May 20, with thousands of employees worldwide receiving an early-morning email from company leadership informing them their roles had been eliminated. The message, obtained by Business Insider, outlined severance terms, visa guidance, and the immediate removal of system […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":3704,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3705","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-trending"],"blocksy_meta":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Email in Full: What Meta Told Laid-Off Staff<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n
Non-Working Notice Period<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Severance Package<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
Immigration and Visa Holders<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
System Access and Office Procedures<\/h3>\n<\/p>\n
The Broader Context<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n