HomeBusinessFacebook Algorithm Fires 60 Contractors 'At Random', Let Go During Video Call

Facebook Algorithm Fires 60 Contractors ‘At Random’, Let Go During Video Call

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A group of about 60 contractors who work with Facebook was told during a video conference call they were laid off this week after they were chosen ‘at random’ by an algorithm.

Although the contractors were completely stunned over the fact that they were fired “at random”, the news out of Meta isn’t a complete surprise as CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently said he will be weeding out underperforming employees with ‘aggressive performance reviews’ as the company prepares for a deep economic downturn.

According to Daily Mail, the layoffs were announced during a video conference call Tuesday and they were not immediately offered new jobs or transfers by Accenture, a company that has a deal worth nearly half a billion dollars a year to staff up the company, according to Business Insider

The contractors were informed during the video call that they could “reapply” for a new job as and when they become available, but that their current work will be finished by September 2 and will be paid through October 3rd.

Accenture representatives stunningly told a worker who asked how the layoffs were determined that an algorithm chose people at random and gave no specific reason for why the employees’ jobs were being cut.

It seems that Zuckerberg may have gotten the idea of having an algorithm randomly fire employees from a payment processing company that recently did the same thing in August 2021.

Xsolla – a company that offers payment processing for the gaming industry – laid off 150 individuals an algorithm determined were ‘unengaged and unproductive’, according to Game Developer

In June, Zuckerberg said the company would be ‘turning up the heat’ on performance management to weed out staffers unable to meet more aggressive goals.

‘Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,’ he said.

‘Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me,’ he said.

In May, Meta said it would pause hiring and at the Q&A session, Zuckerberg said he would cut hiring plans for new engineers by 30 percent – instead of the initial plan to hire 10,000, Meta would hire between 6,000 and 7,000.

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