Meta Employees Are Scrambling to Use Up Benefits Ahead of Layoffs
Meta Employees Are Scrambling to Use Up Benefits Ahead of Layoffs
Meta 员工在裁员前争相使用公司福利
Ahead of Meta’s latest round of mass layoffs tomorrow, some employees are deserting offices, abandoning their work, and loading up on perks they might soon lose, several people at the company tell WIRED. 在 Meta 明天开启新一轮大规模裁员前，公司内部多位人士向《连线》（WIRED）透露，一些员工已经开始离开办公室，放下手头工作，并争相使用那些可能很快就会失去的福利。
Two employees describe a widespread rush to use up an annual $2,000 flexible benefit, which can cover a variety of expenses including health and wellness activities. A separate triennial credit of $200 toward the purchase of audio gear has led to a scramble to purchase Apple AirPods and other headphones. Another source says Meta offices have been largely empty this week, as people prioritize polishing their résumés and gather offsite to commiserate with friends for what may be their final time as colleagues. Employees are variously “paralyzed,” “coasting,” and “panicked,” sources say. 两名员工描述称，大家正普遍争相使用每年 2,000 美元的灵活福利金，该福利可用于报销包括健康和健身活动在内的多种费用。另一项每三年 200 美元的音频设备购买额度，也引发了员工抢购 Apple AirPods 和其他耳机的热潮。另一位消息人士称，本周 Meta 的办公室几乎空无一人，因为员工们优先考虑修改简历，并聚集在公司外与朋友们见面，以此度过他们作为同事的最后时光。据消息人士透露，员工们目前处于“瘫痪”、“混日子”或“恐慌”的状态。
Meta plans to lay off about 10 percent of its nearly 80,000 employees on Wednesday, with notices going out to affected workers’ personal and corporate email addresses at 4 am in their local time zone, according to a company-wide memo sent on Monday. The cuts are coming at a time when the social media giant behind Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook is enjoying record-high profits. 根据周一发送的一份全公司备忘录，Meta 计划在周三裁减其近 8 万名员工中的约 10%，受影响员工将在当地时间凌晨 4 点收到发送至其个人和公司邮箱的通知。此次裁员正值这家拥有 Instagram、WhatsApp 和 Facebook 的社交媒体巨头利润创下历史新高之际。
But CEO Mark Zuckerberg insists that the company must free up cash to invest in AI data centers, and that Meta can perform just as well with fewer employees because of AI technologies that augment human labor. 但首席执行官马克·扎克伯格坚持认为，公司必须腾出资金投资 AI 数据中心，并表示由于 AI 技术能够增强人力，Meta 在员工减少的情况下依然可以保持同样出色的表现。
Meta didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment for this story. The company has undergone three previous large rounds of layoffs since 2022, including as part of Meta’s one-time “year of efficiency” drive in 2023. But even though the latest round is smaller than a couple of those, it is drawing widespread scrutiny because it comes at a time of societal anxiety about AI’s impact on jobs. Meta 未能立即回应置评请求。自 2022 年以来，该公司已经历了三轮大规模裁员，其中包括 2023 年“效率之年”行动的一部分。尽管最新一轮裁员规模小于此前几次，但由于正值社会对 AI 影响就业感到焦虑的时期，它引起了广泛关注。
Inside Meta, the imminent cuts are among several concerns that have sunk morale to unprecedented depths, according to 16 current and former employees who recently spoke to WIRED. Employees also have been frustrated by being “drafted” onto a new AI team without any choice and the rollout of surveillance software that tracks US workers’ laptop use to train AI models. 据 16 位近期接受《连线》采访的现任和前任员工透露，在 Meta 内部，即将到来的裁员是导致士气跌至前所未有的低谷的诸多原因之一。员工们还对被“强制征召”到新的 AI 团队而别无选择，以及公司推出追踪美国员工笔记本电脑使用情况以训练 AI 模型的监控软件感到沮丧。
Meta also plans to internally restructure as it conducts sweeping layoffs, transferring 7,000 remaining staff to “AI initiatives” and converting more managers into individual contributors. That would bring the total number of those affected—either laid off or placed in a new role—to 20 percent of the current workforce, Reuters reported on Monday. WIRED independently confirmed this reporting. Some parts of the company have been told they won’t be affected at all. 路透社周一报道称，Meta 在进行大规模裁员的同时，还计划进行内部重组，将 7,000 名留任员工调往“AI 项目组”，并将更多的经理转为个人贡献者。这意味着受影响（被裁员或被调岗）的总人数将达到当前员工总数的 20%。《连线》已独立证实了这一报道。公司部分部门已被告知不会受到任何影响。
But in recent days, employees who are bracing for changes have shared checklists internally about benefits to take advantage of, and are saving documents such as performance reviews and pay stubs, according to one worker. Some teams are meeting up at bars and restaurants near Meta offices in New York and Menlo Park on Tuesday and Wednesday to eat and drink away their sorrows, several employees said. Management has encouraged employees not to come into offices on Wednesday. 据一名员工透露，最近几天，准备迎接变动的员工们在内部共享了福利使用清单，并正在保存绩效评估和工资单等文件。多名员工表示，一些团队周二和周三在纽约和门洛帕克 Meta 办公室附近的酒吧和餐馆聚会，借酒消愁。管理层已鼓励员工周三不要前往办公室。