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Meta reaches out to ex-employee for interview the same week it laid off 8,000 workers: ‘We will cut you at any moment’
The now-founder shared he used to work at Meta years earlier and resigned from the company in 2018.
A former Meta engineer claimed that the tech giant contacted him for an interview in the same week it laid off 8,000 employees. The executive shared the counterintuitive move online, fueling a massive discussion about the broken nature of modern tech recruitment.
“Meta reached to interview me for a principal role the same week they decided to layoff 8,000 people!” a former corporate employee turned entrepreneur wrote on X.
The tech founder continued, “I’m sure there was at least 1 out of those 8,000 people who got let go who would’ve been a good fit for the role they wanted to hire me for. A few of my staff engineer friends got let go so I know this is true.”
He explained, “Instead they: axe everybody, treat them like a cost, rehire where there’s pain.”
He questioned a company’s commitment to employee retention, adding, “Why do companies expect us to be loyal to them if they don’t even try to retain us when they have hundreds of billions of dollars?”
The tweet continued, “It would be cheaper financially for them to retain one of those 8,000 people. It would be cheaper emotionally for the people who got let go too. How do these big tech companies expect people to put their blood, sweat and tears into work while also saying, ‘yeah we’ll cut you at any moment’.”
He concluded the post by expressing his displeasure about AI layoffs. “I don’t know. The culture around AI and layoffs has gotten unbelievably toxic.”
(Hindustantimes.com has reached out to Zach Wilson. This report will be updated when he responds.)
What did social media say?
An individual asked, “Isn't it better (cheaper) to keep the current employees and upskill than to hire new ones?” Another posted, “This is a major problem across all big companies, especially in tech. Hiring and firing are all highly streamlined, but internal job marketplaces are virtually nonexistent. Absolutely bonkers, and no one is even considering making changes in any of this.”
A third commented, “I feel like they do this because the headlines show up as an indicator to investors, even if it makes no rational sense. The investors see it as ‘being lean’ and ‘modernising with AI’, but it’s obviously not fully there if they are still hiring while doing it.”
A fourth wrote, “Unless it doesn't affect the ticker price negatively on the exchange, this wouldn't stop. For a brief period in history, companies were concerned about layoffs, as they might give the wrong impression that they were declining. Doesn't apply anymore, hence the wild west.”
A few criticised Wilson, and one of them asked sarcastically whether he had been rejected during the interview. The tech exec responded that they didn’t even appear for the interview, adding, “I make a lot more money as an entrepreneur. Why would I interview at a company like this?”
The X user argued that it’s not always about money but also about working at a renowned company. Wilson responded, “I already worked for Meta in the past. And Netflix and Airbnb. I’m good fam.”
He continued, “I left in 2018 after the Cambridge Analytica data scandal showed they give zero shits about data privacy.” He referred to the incident where millions of Facebook users had their personal data compromised without their consent. At that time, the event caused a massive public outrage. According to his LinkedIn profile, he worked at Meta-owned Facebook for two years.
