Facebook’s New Algorithm Gets Employees FIRED
(TargetLiberty.org) – New job cuts at Facebook’s parent company Meta suggest not everything is going well for Big Tech. For Silicon Valley employees, the terminations are obviously bad news adding new insecurity in an industry that seemed to be the wave of the future. What might be even worse is the way it was done.
When it comes to firing Facebook workers: it’s complicated. #Facebook lays off 60 contractors by Metaverse algorithm. Just because it’s Meta, doesn’t make it better. #MoMetaBlues https://t.co/mlPU8YMLsz via @MailOnline
— John Burnett (@IamJohnBurnett) August 19, 2022
On August 16, around 60 contractors who had been hired by Accenture to work with Facebook owner Meta were invited to a video conference. When they logged in an anonymous company official told them their jobs would be ending in two weeks, and they’d be paid through to the start of October.
Job losses and recruitment freezes are sweeping the tech industry. In May, Meta slashed its hiring plans by 30%. Apple laid off around 100 recruiters last week after warning staff it would be slowing down hiring plans. Alphabet, which owns Google, is also scaling back its recruitment, and Netflix has cut nearly 500 staff in the last three months.
This all adds up to worrying times for tech industry employees, but the way Meta went about it is truly frightening. When one of the contractors asked the Accenture rep why they were being terminated, they were told an algorithm had picked the names at random. Selected workers were given no reason for being fired, and no chance to appeal. Losing one’s job is always unpleasant, but good companies do what they can to support terminated staff. It seems the tech industry isn’t even pretending to be human anymore.
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