Meta fires $400K a year employee for spending $25 meal credit on toothpaste and tea

According to a post by tech-professional social media site Blind, the firing took place last week, with employees fired from their posts in the Los Angeles office.

Separately, Meta has begun restructuring teams across its WhatsApp, Instagram and Reality Labs divisions more broadly.

Writing in Blind, a meta staffer noted that employees are given a $25 Grubhub credit if they work after 6pm in an office that doesn't have an on-site cafeteria.

A post viewed by fate The blind platform alleged that the offending workers were ordering food when they were not in the office; Other members of staff are paid their credits; Or was using credit to buy groceries and other household necessities.

Between 20 and 30 workers were reportedly laid off.

Meta is hardly shy about splashing the cash — but that doesn't mean Mark Zuckerberg is letting the company go soft.

Meta is currently valued at around $1.5 trillion, and in July reported revenue of $39.07 billion in 2024—a 22% year-over-year increase.

But the $204 billion leader pushed for the “year of efficiency” in 2023, announcing that it would be 10,000 workers laid off and frozen Recruiting for 5,000 more.

And it seems Meta isn't afraid to let some of its highest-paid employees go.

A further post from the blind, reported by Financial Times, Written by an employee who claimed to be paid $400,000 a year by the company

The person said they worked “nights and weekends” for the big tech giant and spent their $25 credit on items like toothpaste and tea from the pharmacy Rite Aid.

The person said that if their partner cooks or they eat out with friends, the money will be spent on other items, because the employee feels that their benefit “shouldn't be wasted”.

In the post, the employee claimed they admitted their error to human resources but was later fired, adding: “It was almost surreal.”

Meta did not respond fateRequest for comments for confirmation or clarification on issues.

More meta trimming

Laying off a handful of people for food costs won't just leave the meta.

Separately, Meta confirmed the restructuring in other teams.

Tech giant Dr Financial Times: “Today, some teams in Meta are making changes to ensure resources are aligned with their long-term strategic goals and positioning strategy.

“This includes moving some teams to different locations and moving some employees to different roles. In such circumstances when a role is eliminated, we work hard to find other opportunities for affected employees.”

The market has largely welcomed Zuckerberg's moves, which have improved efficiency and increased focus on artificial intelligence.

Meta's share price is up 67% year to date, and 78% over the past 12 months to $577.

Zuckerberg isn't alone in making some unpopular staffing decisions to keep a big tech behemoth moving.

In January, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai told employees in an internal memo that the role reduction was part of a larger decision to invest more in emerging technologies such as AI.

“The reality is that to build this investment capacity, we have to make hard choices,” he wrote.

For some teams, this eliminated jobs, which Pichai described as “removing layers to facilitate direction and drive velocity.”