Aston Lukoye
- Meta has fired employees for misusing meal vouchers by purchasing non-food items like toothpaste and sharing the vouchers.
- Reports suggest that more than 30 staff members were affected, with varying accounts of whether they received warnings.
- Separately, Meta has laid off staff across its businesses, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and Reality Labs, unrelated to the voucher misuse.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has reportedly fired workers for violating its meal voucher policy. Employees allegedly used the credits to buy non-food items like toothpaste and washing powder or shared the vouchers with others. The company has also made broader layoffs, affecting various departments.
Meta provides its employees daily meal vouchers, allocating $25 for lunch, $20 for breakfast, and $25 for dinner, intended for food purchases through Grubhub. However, some employees reportedly misused the system, buying personal items like wine glasses and toothbrushes. While some workers claim they were warned about this misuse, others suggest no warnings were given before the firings.
Posts on Blind, a social media platform for professionals, confirm parts of the story, with one user claiming that over 30 employees were let go. Meta has not yet commented on these specific firings, but the Financial Times was the first to report on the incident.
In addition to the meal voucher controversy, Meta has made job cuts in other business areas, including WhatsApp, Instagram, and its virtual reality unit, Reality Labs. These layoffs are part of a larger restructuring effort to align resources with the company’s long-term strategy. Jane Manchun Wong, a former security engineer at Meta, was among those affected by the layoffs.
The firings and layoffs at Meta highlight the company’s ongoing efforts to address internal policy breaches and optimize its workforce. While the misuse of meal vouchers has resulted in the dismissal of several employees, broader job cuts across Meta’s various divisions indicate that the company is making strategic changes for the future.
