US media reports indicated that tech giant Meta plans to lay off 3,500 employees. CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that underperforming workers will be let go to create room for new hires.

Tech giant Meta has announced plans to lay off approximately 3,600 employees, which will be based on their performance, according to reports from US media on Tuesday. This move will impact 5% of the company’s workforce, which stands at 72,000 employees, as stated by the company to AFP news agency.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared that he had decided to raise the bar on performance management and expedite the exit of low-performing employees. He emphasized that Meta aims to have the "strongest talent" and actively bring in new people to strengthen the team.

Under the new plan, employees who are deemed to underperform will be asked to leave sooner, making way for new hires, as reported by Bloomberg and tech blog The Verge.

Zuckerberg, 40, who is the third richest person in the world, has recently aligned more closely with US president-elect Donald Trump. Alongside this, Meta made other changes, including the closure of its US fact-checking program and a reduction in its diversity and inclusion initiatives. The company also relaxed its content moderation rules.

In 2021, Zuckerberg renamed Facebook to Meta, signaling his ambitious vision to develop an immersive virtual reality experience, or ‘metaverse.’ However, Reality Labs, Meta’s virtual and augmented reality branch, has experienced financial losses.

This is not the first time Meta has faced layoffs. After experiencing initial growth during the COVID-19 pandemic, the company reduced its workforce by around 20,000 jobs. In 2023, Meta announced another significant round of layoffs as part of its cost-cutting strategy, labeling that year as its "year of efficiency."