S'pore staff affected as Meta cuts global workforce

Leaked HR memo revealed notices would go out to workers in over a dozen countries

- Sharon Salim

Job cuts by social media giant Meta have hit Singapore, according to public posts on professional networking platform LinkedIn and sources who spoke to The Straits Times.

This comes following a leaked internal memo by Meta's vice-president of human resources Janelle Gale in February, which communicated its plans to carry out company-wide layoffs globally.

According to the note, notices were expected to go out to employees losing their jobs starting at 9pm Singapore time on Feb 10 in most countries, including the US. Workers in more than a dozen countries across Europe, Asia and Africa would receive their notifications between Feb 11 and 18, it said.

A LinkedIn user who identified herself as Meta's product manager based in Singapore said in a public post on Feb 11 that while this is not the first wave of layoffs she had witnessed during her almost three-year tenure at the firm, it "never gets easier".

"Yesterday's Meta layoffs have been deeply emotional and challenging for many of us," she wrote, adding the hashtag #metalayoffs as an act of solidarity among those impacted.

"Each time, it's heartbreaking to wake up and see deactivated profiles - colleagues who suddenly cannot log in any more, facing an uphill battle to move forward."

She also noted in her post that some employees who were let go had taken maternity or parental leave in 2024.

Mr Christopher Fong, co-founder of career networking platform Key, helped organise a two-hour gathering at a bar in Clarke Quay on Feb 13 to help the laid-off Meta workers connect with one another. The session was co-organised by two former Meta staff who lost their jobs during the previous rounds of cuts.