While Hundreds of Employees Are Laid Off, Meta's Boss to Receive Massive Bonus

Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will conduct mass layoffs. 700 Meta employees are affected by the layoffs. Meta announced this decision on Wednesday (25/3/2026). On the other hand, less than 24 hours before the layoff announcement, Meta announced a new scheme that allows Meta’s boss to obtain additional stock options worth up to $921 million US (approximately Rp15 trillion). The Reality Labs division itself previously experienced a cut of around 10 per cent in January, in line with Meta’s shift in focus from Metaverse development to AI technology. “Teams across Meta routinely carry out restructurings or changes to ensure they are in the best position to achieve goals,” stated a Meta spokesperson. “If possible, we also seek other opportunities for affected employees,” they added. It is not yet known exactly which Meta offices are affected by this reduction. However, previously, the company had filed documents showing that layoffs occurred in several office locations in California, including Menlo Park, Sunnyvale, and Burlingame. For information, Meta’s total workforce at the end of 2025 is recorded at around 79,000 employees, as quoted by KompasTekno from the New York Times. This incentive will be given if Meta succeeds in achieving certain growth targets, including the ambition to become a company with a valuation of up to $9 trillion US (approximately Rp15.37 quadrillion) by 2031. The executives who will receive the jumbo bonus are the Chief Technology Officer, Chief Product Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Chief Operating Officer, Vice President and Vice Chairman, and Chief Legal Officer. Mark Zuckerberg himself, who serves as Chief Executive Officer (CEO), is reported not to receive new stock options in the programme. The additional stock options are the first time Meta has given incentives to its executives since the company went public in 2012. At that time, the California, US-based company was still named Facebook.