An angry meta-worker has revealed her bitter disappointment after being part of the company’s latest round of layoffs – and slammed the tech company for its “cold and corporate” layoff process.
Mary Prescott worked at Meta for 10 months as a software development recruiter before receiving the dreaded email informing her that she had been laid off due to the company’s hiring freeze.
She was part of Mark Zuckerberg’s recent bloodbath. He announced on Tuesday that another 10,000 jobs would be cut, reducing the workforce by another 13 percent.
After months of being kept on the edge of her chair – over concerns she would be part of the next round of layoffs – the recruiter received an automated email this week.
Mary Prescott worked at Meta for 10 months as a software development recruiter before receiving the dreaded email saying she had been laid off due to the company’s hiring freeze
Taken together, the cuts account for just under a quarter of the company’s 86,000 employees. Zuckerberg made the announcement on his Facebook page and shared the internal memo he sent to employees.
In an article for Business Insider, Prescott said that since the first layoffs were announced, she felt “the guilt of the survivors” and worried about when her time would inevitably come.
According to Indeed, recruiters at Meta make about $123,400. Depending on experience, however, this number can be significantly higher.
Prescott, who has worked as a recruiter at various technology companies for the past nine years, said: “I definitely had survivability guilt. I felt terrible for everyone who was fired after investing a lot of time and expertise in meta.
The worker, in her 30s, began to question why she’d been bailed out in the first meta-staff screening – and admitted work morale was low because people didn’t want to dedicate themselves to long-term projects for fear of being let go.
After Zuckerberg’s announcement that 2023 would be the “Year of Efficiency,” Prescott knew layoffs were coming in her area.
But the shocking part was how “cold and corporate” the company was during the process.
She revealed: “We’ve been on the edge of our seats since that announcement.
“We knew there would be more layoffs so it wasn’t a total shock but the way it was done felt very cold and corporate.”
Mark Zuckerberg (pictured in December) announced on Tuesday that another 10,000 jobs will be cut, reducing the workforce by another 13 percent
Despite leaks in the press about who would be impacted by the layoffs, the worker said she was “disappointed and frustrated” that the meta leadership didn’t ask questions until Zuckerberg’s final announcement.
And she said her team of meta-recruiters even met pre-emptively to say goodbye when they assumed they would be the next to be kicked out of the tech company.
She added: “We didn’t know exactly who would be affected and when, so we met for the last week to say a pre-emptive goodbye.
“I have texted many of my colleagues about the impending layoffs. I couldn’t sleep because I knew we would hear about it early in the morning in my time zone, so I got up at 4am and talked to people and tried to see what was going on.
“The next morning I received an email confirming that I had been fired.”
The email was impersonal and automated — and Prescott said she would have appreciated a personal message from her manager, but that didn’t happen.
She admitted: “Unfortunately, he hasn’t received any information about these layoffs either – and indeed he was released today.”
As for her life after the meta, the recruiter admitted she has concerns about applying in the current job market, but she’s “trying to be smart, save money, be frugal, and meanwhile, make up for everyone.” to report cases as unemployed”.
She added: “In a way, it’s a relief to finally know what our destiny is, because we’ve been hanging on the edge of our seats in limbo, knowing this is coming for a while, but at the same time, the finality of it is.” really sad and disappointing.
“Working here was a good experience but I’m quite disappointed with how it ended and how the leadership communicated the layoffs to us.”
Following her firing, Prescott posted on LinkedIn and said, “Hi everyone – I was sadly impacted by the meta layoffs today.
“While I’m disappointed that my time at Meta ended so quickly, I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from so many talented people.
“With this in mind, I am looking for a new role and would appreciate your support. Thanks in advance for any connections, advice or opportunities you can offer.’
On Tuesday, it was revealed that Meta’s recruiting teams will be the first to face downsizing in the United States. Affected tech teams will lose jobs in late April, and lines of business will see job cuts in May.
Zuckerberg confirmed there will also be international layoffs, but they will take longer.
‘Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by approximately 10,000 people and close approximately 5,000 additional open positions that we have not yet hired.
“It’s going to be tough and there’s no getting around it. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success,” he said.