Meta's culture crisis deepens as 22,600 jobs cut since 2022

Meta's internal culture has reached a breaking point after three years of relentless layoffs, keystroke surveillance, and forced reassignments, with executives now scrambling to contain the damage.

Meta's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, told employees this month that morale is "probably one of the worst it's ever been," acknowledging the company had done "an atrocious job" with restructuring after cutting 22,600 jobs since 2022.

"They have almost systematically destroyed trust," said Sandra Sucher, a professor of management practice at Harvard Business School who studies organizational trust. "They are trying to figure out how to dig themselves out of the hole that they dug."

The layoffs began with 11,000 cuts in late 2022, followed by 10,000 in spring 2023 and 3,600 in early 2025. This May, Meta laid off another 8,000 employees while reassigning 7,000 more to menial AI training roles. More than 1,600 workers signed a petition opposing keystroke tracking, and UK employees are attempting to form a labor union.

The management overhaul was meant to accelerate innovation in the AI race against OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. Instead, Meta delayed and ultimately scrapped its flagship AI model last year and has repeatedly pushed back another model's rollout, raising questions about whether the efficiency drive backfired.

The scale of the discontent is unprecedented for the social media giant. In a livestreamed meeting this month, one employee interrupted with a profanity-laced outburst directed at an executive. Another worker in the AI training unit compared the role to a gulag. Some employees have said they are praying to be laid off so they can leave with severance, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chief Product Officer Chris Cox acknowledged the "insanity of this company" in a meeting with Instagram employees, describing the environment as "difficult" and "brutal." Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg admitted the company had "made mistakes."

The $921 Million Contrast

The mea culpas come against a backdrop of stark compensation disparities. Meta awarded six executives stock options worth $921 million, according to securities filings, shortly before cutting 8,000 jobs in May after reporting a record quarter. The optics have fueled employee anger and undermined trust in leadership's commitment to shared sacrifice.

Bosworth, who last year told dissatisfied employees to "quit" or "disagree and commit," now says the company needs to rebuild psychological safety. "I hope we can rekindle the best of the culture we joined," he said in a recent memo. "One where people have the psychological safety to take risks and do the right thing over a long period of time."

Can Trust Be Rebuilt?

Sucher said executives are making the right move by acknowledging their mistakes. Meta has promised to reduce team sizes, scale back keystroke monitoring, increase social event budgets, and allow employees reassigned to AI training to opt into different roles. But Sucher said a credible turnaround requires Zuckerberg himself to offer a proper apology that includes the word "sorry."

"It's very hard to turn the ship on these things," she said. "Usually, it requires a new leader. It's unthinkable that Mark Zuckerberg would be a credible spokesman for change."

The stakes extend beyond Meta. The company's November 2022 mass layoff was the first by a major tech giant, ushering in a take-no-prisoners era across Silicon Valley. Google and Microsoft have since opted for voluntary buyouts over mass layoffs, a more humane approach. Zuckerberg has pledged no further big job cuts through the end of the year, but whether the company can sustain a genuine cultural reset remains an open question for the 70,000 employees who remain.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.