Mark Zuckerberg’s tech giant Meta recently fired 24 employees from its Los Angeles office for abusing the company’s $25 meal voucher system to buy non-food items like toothpaste, laundry detergent and even wine glasses, according to employee posts on the anonymous workplace chat app Blind.
The vouchers, intended for food delivery while working in the office, had been misused to order household items, an issue Meta quickly addressed by terminating those involved.
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Meta, valued at $1.5 trillion, is known for its generous benefits, including free meals in its larger offices, a strategy designed to lure employees back to the workplace amid the rise of remote work. In smaller offices where on-site dining options are not available, employees receive meal credits for delivery services like Grubhub. However, this benefit appears to have been taken beyond its intended purpose by some staff members.
According to The Financial Times, there had been abuse of meal vouchers for some time, with some employees regularly ordering cosmetics and groceries. Despite initial warnings, the situation continued, leading to the recent terminations. Surprisingly, these layoffs also included some high-earning engineers with six-figure salaries.
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Although the staff involved had been warned in advance, their continued abuse ultimately resulted in their dismissal.
The news comes as Meta makes wider cuts across several divisions including WhatsApp, Instagram and its virtual reality unit. The company cited restructuring efforts aimed at realigning resources with long-term strategic goals.
Meta spokespeople did not comment directly on the meal voucher scandal, but reiterated that restructuring involves shifting teams and roles to more critical business areas.
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“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 David Arnold said in a statement. “This includes moving some teams to other locations and moving employees into new roles. In cases where a role is eliminated, we work hard to find new opportunities within the company.”
