""Intense" is the only way to describe it - exactly what Mark Zuckerberg promised employees. I joined BI a day before Meta scrapped third-party fact-checking, and almost immediately the culture shifted: DEI rollbacks, an embrace of "masculine" energy, and moves that seemed more aligned with the Trump administration. Then came thousands of layoffs of people labeled low performers and a noticeable spike in performance pressure."
"The second half of the year brought a very different pivot. Meta effectively admitted Llama hadn't lived up to the hype and reset around a new mission: building "personal superintelligence." That meant hiring Alexandr Wang, reorganizing AI under Meta Superintelligence Labs, and aggressively poaching talent while high-profile figures - including Yann LeCun - departed. It felt like covering a company reinventing its business, values, and culture all at once."
"Over and over, employees told us the goal wasn't to do great work - it was to avoid landing in the bottom performance tier. Some people left on principle, saying Meta no longer resembled the company they joined. Yet others insisted this is the best job in tech: great product challenges, unmatched scale, exceptional pay. Those two realities sit side by side - one group bracing for impact, another thriving."
Meta experienced abrupt cultural shifts including the end of third-party fact-checking, DEI rollbacks, and an embrace of "masculine" energy, followed by large layoffs framed around forced performance rankings. Performance pressure spiked as many employees focused on avoiding bottom-tier ratings rather than pursuing ambitious work. The company later pivoted after Llama underperformed, refocusing on "personal superintelligence," hiring Alexandr Wang, reorganizing AI under Meta Superintelligence Labs, and aggressively recruiting talent even as high-profile figures departed. The workforce split between those who left on principle and those who praised the technical challenges, scale, and compensation.
Read at Business Insider
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