Meta Employee Laid Off After Returning From Maternity Leave: “Blindsided”

Meta has kicked off another round of job cuts, impacting around 3,600 employees across Europe, Asia, and the US. The company claims these layoffs are performance-based, targeting underperformers who didn’t meet expectations. However, some former employees are disputing this, saying they had a solid track record of performance and were blindsided by the layoffs. One such employee is Elana Reman Safner, a product counsel for MetaWorks, who was laid off after returning from a six-month maternity leave.

In a LinkedIn post, Ms Safner shared her shock and disappointment, suggesting that Meta may have targeted employees who had recently taken leaves. 

“Meta laid me off yesterday in its “performance-based” layoffs, and I was blindsided. I have never received a review below “Meets All” in my 3+ years at Meta, and I was on maternity leave for 6 months until November. It is very hard to believe that – despite Meta indicating my expectations are prorated – I did not do enough. Many laid off today have similar stories – a history of good performance, and a recent leave of absence,” she wrote. 

Here’s the post:

Ms Safner further reminisced about her time at Meta, expressing gratitude towards her team. “At Meta, I learned to be nimble and resilient, provide business-focused, risk-calibrated advice, and how to be a great XFN partner. Even when I disagreed with product direction or was disappointed by Meta in the news, my clients and colleagues kept me energized,” she added. 

However, she also highlighted several aspects of the company she wouldn’t miss, including the uncertainty of her career trajectory and the high-stress nature of her role. Ms Safner also took a swipe at Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s leadership style, criticising his tendency to abruptly shut down products that didn’t meet his “moonshot” expectations. 

She wrote, “Here’s what I won’t miss: my career trajectory being completely at the whim of product decisions I have no control over, mental overload, 34-page one-pagers, having 62 tabs open, deprecating beloved products because they weren’t “moonshot” enough for Zuck, Zuck’s newfound “masculine energy” and becoming its collateral damage.”

The layoffs come as Meta shifts its focus towards artificial intelligence and other strategic priorities. 

​In a LinkedIn post, Ms Safner shared her shock and disappointment, suggesting that Meta may have targeted employees who had recently taken leaves.   

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