Financial Times Interviews Deena R. Merlen on Meta’s Performance-Based Layoffs and Shifting Employment Practices in Silicon Valley

RPJ’s Deena R. Merlen spoke with the Financial Times earlier this month about the waves of layoffs sweeping through Silicon Valley. “We’re seeing seismic changes in employment practices, reflecting a broader cultural shift in the U.S.,” says Ms. Merlen in the article. “These shifts are influencing how decisions are made and the procedures employers follow.”

Big tech appears to be following the lead set by Elon Musk. When he acquired Twitter (now known as X), Musk gave its employees an ultimatum to accept an “extremely hardcore” culture or to leave the company, after which he reduced the headcount by roughly 80 percent. This was a harbinger of his later efforts, through the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), to sharply reduce the federal workforce.

Companies such as Meta and Microsoft are following suit. For example, amidst his calls for more “masculine energy” in the workplace and his criticism of what he calls a “culturally neutered” corporate environment, Meta head Mark Zuckerberg advised employees back in January that he was going “raise the bar on performance” by firing the “low performers” – leading to the termination of roughly 3600 Meta employees (despite many having enjoyed excellent performance reviews until that point).  Some of the Meta employees who were fired for allegedly being “low performers” claimed they were let go shortly after returning from medical or maternity leave, from which they inferred that unlawful bias or retaliation drove the decision.

Read the full article here.

This article is intended as a general discussion of these issues only and is not to be considered legal advice or relied upon. For more information, please contact RPJ Partner Deena R. Merlen, who counsels clients in areas of employment and labor law, intellectual property, media and entertainment, general business law, commercial transactions and dispute resolution. Ms. Merlen is admitted to practice law in Connecticut and New York.