Laid off Meta recruiter slams company’s ‘cold’ firing process after receiving an AUTOMATED email

A furious Meta worker has revealed her bitter disappointment after being part of the company’s latest round of layoffs – slamming the tech firm for its ‘cold and corporate’ firing process.

Mary Prescott worked at Meta as a software engineering leadership recruiter for 10 months before receiving the dreaded email informing her she’d been let go amid the firm’s hiring freeze. 

She was part of Mark Zuckerberg‘s latest bloodbath. He announced on Tuesday that another 10,000 jobs were being cut, shrinking its staff count by another 13 percent. 

After months of being kept on the edge of her seat – worried that she’d be part of the next round of layoffs – the recruiter was met with an automated email this week. 

Mary Prescott worked at Meta as a software engineering leadership recruiter for 10 months before receiving the dreaded email telling her she’d been let go amid the company’s hiring freeze

Combined, the cuts account for just under a quarter of the company’s 86,000-person workforce. Zuckerberg made the announcement on his Facebook page, sharing the internal memo he sent employees. 

Writing in Business Insider, Prescott said that ever since the first set of redundancies were announced, she’d felt ‘survivor’s guilt’ and was worried when her time would inevitably come.

Recruiters at Meta earn approximately $123,400, according to Indeed. However this figure can be considerably higher, depending on experience.   

Prescott, who had worked at various tech companies as a recruiter for the last nine years, said: ‘I definitely had survivor’s guilt. I felt horrible for everyone who was laid off after investing a lot of their time and expertise into Meta.’

The worker, in her 30s, started asking herself why she had been saved during the first cull of Meta staff – and admitted the morale at work was low, because people did not want to dedicate themselves to long-term projects over fears they’d be let go.

After Zuckerberg’s announcement that 2023 would be the ‘year of efficiency,’ Prescott knew that layoffs in her field were coming.

But the shocking part was how ‘cold and corporate’ the company was during the process. 

She revealed: ‘We’ve been on the edge of our seats since that announcement.

‘We knew there would be more layoffs, so it wasn’t a total shock, but the way it was done felt very cold and corporate.’

Mark Zuckerberg (pictured in December) announced on Tuesday that another 10,000 jobs were being cut , shrinking its staff count by another 13 percent

Mark Zuckerberg (pictured in December) announced on Tuesday that another 10,000 jobs were being cut , shrinking its staff count by another 13 percent

Despite leaks in the press about who’d be impacted in the redundancies, the worker said she was ‘disappointed and frustrated’ that Meta leadership did not address questions until Zuckerberg’s final announcement. 

And she said her team of Meta recruiters even met, pre-emptively, to say their goodbyes once they assumed they’d be the next to be kicked out of the tech company. 

She added: ‘We didn’t know who exactly would be affected and when, so we met in the last week to preemptively say our goodbyes.

‘I was texting with a lot of my colleagues about the looming layoffs. I couldn’t sleep because I knew we’d start hearing about them in the early morning in my time zone, so I was up at 4 a.m. talking with folks and trying to see what was going on.

‘I got an email the next morning confirming I was laid off.’

The email was impersonal and automated – and Prescott said she would have appreciated a personal message from her manager, but that did not happen. 

She admitted: ‘Unfortunately, he wasn’t given any information about these layoffs either — and he actually got laid off today as well.’ 

As for her post-Meta life, the recruiter admitted she’s apprehensive to apply in the current job market, but she’s ‘trying to play it smart, save money, be frugal, and apply for unemployment in the meantime just in case.’ 

She added: ‘In some ways, it’s a relief to finally know what our fate is because we’ve been on the edge of our seats in limbo, knowing that this is coming for a while, but at the same time, the finality of it is really sad and disappointing. 

‘Working here was a good experience, but I’m pretty bummed with how it ended and how leadership communicated the layoffs to us.’

Following her lay off, Prescott posted on LinkedIn, she said: ‘Hi everyone – I’ve unfortunately been impacted by the Meta layoffs today.

‘Although I’m disappointed that my time at Meta has ended so soon, I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with and learn from so many talented individuals.

‘With that being said, I am looking for a new role and would appreciate your support. Thank you in advance for any connections, advice, or opportunities you can offer.’

On Tuesday, it was announced that in the US, Meta recruiting teams will be the first to have jobs cut. Impacted tech teams will lose positions at the end of April, and business branches will see jobs cut in May. 

Zuckerberg confirmed international layoffs will also occur, but will take longer.

‘Overall, we expect to reduce our team size by around 10,000 people and to close around 5,000 additional open roles that we haven’t yet hired.

‘This will be tough and there’s no way around that. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success,’ he said.