Facebook contractors 'laid-off at random after being selected by algorithm'

Meta reportedly chose 60 contractors to be laid layoff ... using an algorithm.

According to Business Insider, the contractors were employed by Meta through the Austin, Texas office of Accenture, which has a half billion dollar deal with the tech company to provide workers in content moderation and business-integrity services.

On Tuesday (16 August), the workers were notified of their layoff via a video conference call which said they would be out of work starting on 2 September with pay terminating on 3 October.

No specific reasons were provided besides it being chosen “at random”, employees claim.

The contractors also weren’t immediately offered new roles by Accenture, but they were informed that they could reapply for whatever newly available job available over the next two weeks.

Sign upfor our free Indy100 weekly newsletter

The layoffs may not be the most shocking thing, considering that during a company-wide Q&A meeting on 30 June, Mark Zuckerberg warned employees of a recent market hurdle that “might be one of the worst downturns" the company saw in its history.

This prompted the need for “aggressive performance reviews” to help comb through underperforming employees.

“Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you and that self-selection is OK with me,” Zuckerberg added.

The Q&A came during a Meta hiring freeze and more cost-cutting measures, as the company’s stock has gone down more than 50 per cent this year.

Elsewhere, the Meta layoffs came days after Apple laid off 100 recruiters in charge of hiring new employees.

Indy100 has contacted Meta for comment.

Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.