Some Meta employees say they are not promised compensation

A group of Goal workers who joined the company through a corporate training program say they are receiving inferior severance packages compared to other workers who were recently laid off.

Employees are members of Meta’s Sourcer Development Program, designed to help workers of diverse backgrounds gain careers in corporate technology recruiting. Sourcer’s Development Program is part of Meta’s Pathways program, which helps people with non-traditional professional backgrounds get apprenticeships at the social media giant for various roles.

Almost all of the members of Meta’s Sourcer Development Program, more than 60 workers, were laid off from the company as part of its mass layoff of more than 11,000 workers in early November, several Meta employees told CNBC.

Several members of Meta’s Sourcer Development Program told CNBC that they joined Meta in April as part of the company’s latest cohort. The employees said they were not contract workers and were instead classified as short-term employees who received all the benefits of full-time employees, including insurance and retirement funds, but no corporate stock packages. After completing the 12-month program, employees would become full-time employees if they met the necessary criteria.

in a letter Sent to Meta employees during the layoffs and posted online, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would pay severance of 16 weeks of base salary plus an additional two weeks for each year of service, with no limit. Zuckerberg added that Meta would cover the cost of healthcare for individuals and their families for six months.

But members of Meta’s Sourcer Development Program said they only receive 8 weeks of base pay and three months of COBRA.

The workers said it’s unclear why they are receiving lower severance payments than their colleagues, considering they were full-time employees and not contract staff.

the nov. On January 16, the affected workers sent a letter to Zuckerberg and other Meta executives, including Meta’s Chief of People Lori Goler and Chief Operating Officer Javier Olivan, informing Meta management of their severance situation. and asking for help to solve the problem.

“Even our former managers insisted that we were confused and that all the information they were getting was that they were offering us 16 weeks of pay and 6 months of health insurance,” the group wrote in the letter.

They later added: “Leadership may not have been aware that the last SDP class, which began in April 2022, was repeatedly reassured by their leadership that any possible layoffs would not affect their current employment, but would likely affect the company’s ability to consider them for a full-time position.

The affected Meta workers said they have not received any response from Meta management and human resources staff explaining their situation.

“During a recent question and answer session, Lori even stated that the Pathways programs would not be affected,” the letter said. “It was based on this information that we were repeatedly assured by our managers that we did not need to start applying for positions outside the company.”

“We understand that we are employed at will and that business needs are always evolving and changing, but we couldn’t help feeling that perhaps there was a mistake,” the group added.

The workers told CNBC that Meta has not yet responded to their letter, but has sent gift packages to some members to congratulate them on completing the Sourcer Development Program.

“We hope that Meta offering only 8 weeks of base pay and 3 months of COBRA to the affected April 2023 SDP class was a clerical error and was not done with contempt or intentional insensitivity,” the workers said in the letter.

Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.

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