Meta lays off 3,600 employees; raises top executives' bonuses to 200 percent in controversy

 

 

California: While laying off thousands of employees, Facebook's parent company Meta is in controversy by sharply increasing the bonuses of senior executives in the company. According to the new decision, Meta executives will now receive bonuses of up to 200 percent of their base salary. Previously, it was only 75 percent. The bonus has now been sharply increased. Meta stated in a corporate filing that it will offer big bonuses to the company's top executives this year, Moneycontrol reports.

Meta's board of directors took the decision to increase the bonus in February 2025. The company says that the salaries of Meta's top executives were lower than those of other companies, which is why it decided to pay them more. However, this change will not apply to Mark Zuckerberg, Meta's CEO. That is, Zuckerberg will not receive the benefit of the bonus increased by Meta officials.

"Meta has approved an increase in the bonus plan for the company's named executive officers (excluding Meta's chief executive officer) from 75% to 200% of base salary, with the revised amount effective from the 2025 annual performance period," Meta explains in a corporate filing.

The controversial decision to increase the bonuses of the company's executives also comes at the same time as Meta plans to lay off its global employees. Meta recently announced that it would lay off 5 percent of its employees. Meta is laying off about 3,600 employees, citing "underperformance." In addition, the stock options granted to employees have been reduced by 10 percent. This will affect their future earnings. Meta's move, which on the one hand is laying off employees and on the other hand is increasing bonuses for the company's top executives, has led to criticism on social media platforms including X.