Many employees were quick to complain in the comment section below the post announcing the change, according to several employees who viewed the post. Just minutes after the changes were announced, employees asked if the company plans to compensate them in new ways and if Meta conducted an employee survey to evaluate how the changes would affect its workforce.
Meta executives, who have tried to break the needle of cracking misinformation related to the war in Ukraine and who are facing an outright ban on Facebook and Instagram in Russia, seemed to have little patience for the questions.
In a tone several employees described as combative, Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer, assertively defended some of the changes and was annoyed at the perceived sense of entitlement shown in the comments, according to employees who saw the thread. Mike Schroepfer, the outgoing chief technology officer, also wrote in the comments in support of the changes.
Another employee who worked on the company’s food service team pushed back even harder, according to two people who saw the post.
“I can honestly say that when our colleagues stuff three to 10 to-go boxes full of steak to take them home, nobody cares about our culture,” the employee said, refuting others’ claims that the changes would be harmful to Meta’s workplace culture. “The decision has been made to try and contain some of the abuse and eliminate six million boxes on the way.”
It turned out that many employees agreed. As of Friday afternoon, the employee’s post was the most liked comment in the thread, with hundreds of employees expressing their support.
The halting of laundry and dry cleaning services for employees at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, ends a famous – albeit unusual – benefit. The laundry service, which was operated by a third party, had free pick-up and drop-off around campus and was intended “to make people’s lives easier,” according to a 2020 interview with a Facebook spokeswoman.
An employee, who was reached for comment on the changes, texted back, “Can’t talk, was doing.”
