SOCIAL MEDIA

Meta fires employees for spending food allowances on personal items like acne pads and wine glasses

Oct 17, 2024, 4:35 PM

Meta's logo is seen on a sign at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Nov. 9, 2022. Me...

FILE - Meta's logo is seen on a sign at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Nov. 9, 2022. (AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)

(AP Photo/Godofredo A. Vásquez, File)

(CNN) — Meta fired around two dozen employees from its Los Angeles office for misusing company meal credits for things like laundry detergent, wine glasses and acne treatment pads, a source familiar with the company confirmed to CNN.

Many of the social media giant’s corporate offices feature elaborate food services to provide employees with meals as a perk. Meta’s two-year-old office near New York City’s Penn Station, for example, features a cafeteria that feels like an upscale food court, with various stalls all free for staff.

But for employees at smaller offices without food services, the company provides meal vouchers — $20 for breakfast and $25 each for lunch and dinner — so they can have food delivered to the office while on the job.

The meal vouchers are meant for employees to eat while working at the office — sometimes long hours stretching across several meals of the day, notorious in the tech world.

An internal investigation found that some LA-based employees used the meal funds to purchase things other than food instead, or had meals delivered to their homes, the source said.

Meta’s median total annual compensation for individual employees (other than CEO Mark Zuckerberg) is $379,050, the company said in a regulatory filing earlier this year.

The firings, which took place last week, were first reported by the Financial Times.

News of the firings comes as Meta acknowledged on Thursday that it was laying off people across the company as part of a series of separate restructurings.

“Today, a few teams at Meta are making changes to ensure resources are aligned with their long-term strategic goals and location strategy,” Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton said in a statement. “This includes moving some teams to different locations, and moving some employees to different roles. In situations like this when a role is eliminated, we work hard to find other opportunities for impacted employees.”

Meta declined to share how many employees were laid off.

The cuts took place across Instagram, WhatsApp, Facebook and Reality Labs, which houses Meta’s virtual reality and metaverse efforts.

Among those laid off were Jane Manchun Wong, a prominent security researcher who became well known in the tech world for predicting new social media features — like a Facebook resume feature and a tool on the platform formerly known as Twitter that let users hide replies to their tweets — before she was hired by Meta in June 2023 to work on the Instagram and Threads team.

Meta laid off more than 20,000 employees last year over multiple rounds of cuts, in an effort to reverse a year of revenue declines and stagnating user growth, which Zuckerberg termed its “year of efficiency.” The company’s shares (META) are up nearly 80% from this time last year.


The-CNN-Wire™ & © 2024 Cable News Network, Inc., a Warner Bros. Discovery Company. All rights reserved.

KSL 5 TV Live

Social Media

FILE — Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese gestures during a press conference in Logan Cit...

Rod MCguirk, Associated Press

Australia plans a social media ban for children under 16

The Australian government announced on Thursday what it described as world-leading legislation that would set an age limit of 16 years for children to start using social media, and hold platforms responsible for ensuring compliance.

4 days ago

FILE - Reddit CEO Steve Huffman and company employees celebrate on the New York Stock Exchange trad...

Associated Press

Reddit’s explosive user growth and AI tools help it soar to its first-ever profit

For the first time in its nearly 20-year history, Reddit is turning a profit.

11 days ago

FILE - A spectator records a cell phone video as fireworks are launched over the Ohio River during ...

Kelvin Chan, AP Business Writer

One Tech Tip: How to prepare your online accounts for when you die

Most people have accumulated a pile of data on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to those selfies, emails, videos and other files when we die?

17 days ago

Democratic vice presidential candidate Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz speaks during a campaign event in Yo...

David Klepper, Associated Press

Russia linked to disinformation targeting Walz, intelligence official says

Groups in Russia created and helped spread viral disinformation targeting Democratic vice presidential candidate Tim Walz, a senior U.S. intelligence official said Tuesday.

19 days ago

Twitter may now be X, but it’s keeping up the tradition of prompting celebrities to announce they...

Lisa Respers France, CNN

Jelly Roll says he’s quitting ‘most toxic’ X

Twitter may now be X, but it’s keeping up the tradition of prompting celebrities to announce they are leaving the platform.

20 days ago

Meta's logo is seen on a sign at the company's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., Nov. 9, 2022. Me...

Clare Duffy, CNN

Meta fires employees for spending food allowances on personal items like acne pads and wine glasses

Meta fired around two dozen employees from its Los Angeles office for misusing company meal credits for things like laundry detergent, wine glasses and acne treatment pads.

24 days ago

Sponsored Articles

abstract vector digital social network technology background...

Les Olson

Protecting yourself against social engineering attacks

Learn more about the common types of social engineering to protect your online or offline assets from an attack.

family having fun at home...

Lighting Design

Discover the impact of lighting on your mood

From color temperature to lighting saturation, we tackle how different lighting design setups can impact your day-to-day mood.

Laptops in a modern technology store. Department of computers in the electronics store. Choosing a ...

PC Laptops

How to choose the best laptop for college students

Finding the right laptop for college students can be hard, but with this guide we break down what to look for so you can find the best one.

young male technician is repairing a printer at office...

Les Olson

Unraveling the dilemma between leasing and buying office technology

Carefully weigh these pros and cons to make an informed decision that best suits your business growth and day-to-day operation. 

A kitchen in a modern farmhouse....

Lighting Design

A room-by-room lighting guide for your home

Bookmark this room-by-room lighting guide whenever you decide to upgrade your lighting or style a new home.

Photo courtesy of Artists of Ballet West...

Ballet West

The rising demand for ballet tickets: why they’re harder to get

Ballet West’s box office is experiencing demand they’ve never seen before, leaving many interested patrons unable to secure tickets they want.

Meta fires employees for spending food allowances on personal items like acne pads and wine glasses