Meta $META’s “year of efficiency” is reportedly turning into “permanent efficiency” — and now its hundreds of vice presidents are on the cutting block.
Business Insider, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter, reports that the Facebook parent company is looking to cut its number of vice presidents, which peaked at about 300 last year, closer to 250. After cutting more than 20,000 employees in 2023, CEO Mark Zuckerberg is not done, and top managers aren’t immune from higher performance standards and reorganization plans. Meta’s vice president title has five levels.
“The overall goal is still to reduce the people in the middle and at the top and increase people on the bottom,” one source told Business Insider. “It’s getting middle-heavy and top-heavy again.”
Meta made cuts to its management structure last year after Zuckerberg said he didn’t want a company of “managers managing managers,” Business Insider reports. But the company reportedly continued its “lagged promos” last year, where employees up for a promotion work in a new role for a year before receiving their new position. These promotions led to growth in management and executive roles that were not planned for under “permanent efficiency,” sources told Business Insider.
Meta declined to comment.
Zuckerberg has shifted the company from being “Metaverse-first” to AI-first, but is still putting effort into its virtual reality business, which has lost the company billions. Meanwhile, Meta is spending billions on chips to build on its artificial intelligence ambitions. As part of its “technology roadmap” from now until 2026, the company is developing an AI model to power recommendations for its videos and user Feeds.