Consulting firm Accenture has reportedly used an algorithm to let about 60 hired employees go for Facebook, according to Insider.
The employees, who were based in the Accenture office in Austin, did not work directly for Facebook or Meta, but performed duties such as content moderation for the social media giant, the outlet added.
Employees told Insider they were posted to Zoom meetings — one on Tuesday and a follow-up on Wednesday — where no one’s names were visible, including the people who notified them of their job change.
“I assume it was HR, but no one knows for sure,” one person who is “familiar” with what happened during the conversation told Insider. Accenture representatives at the call reportedly told workers that “an algorithm” helped choose the group of people to be released.
However, Meta denies the report and emails londonbusinessblog.com a brief statement: “Insider reporting is incorrect, please contact Accenture for official comment.”
Meta did not immediately respond to a follow-up asking which part of the reporting was incorrect.
Accenture told londonbusinessblog.com via email: “We pointed out that our speakers in both town halls identified themselves or were introduced by other speakers, so that their identities and roles were made clear.”
Accenture added to Insider that “it would be inaccurate to report that there are layoffs in Austin,” Accenture management said on the call, and “we don’t use algorithms to randomly select people.”
“We have also made it clear that all people will be invited to apply for other open positions, and they will have 45 days to do so,” Accenture added. londonbusinessblog.com.
Like other major tech companies, Facebook’s parent company, Meta, has shaken up its staffing and hiring policies. In May, the company set a hiring freeze. In July, a leaked memo stated that Maher Saba, Meta’s vice president for remote presence and technology, asked managers to locate and “move to leave” people who were not performing well. The reported information.
Mark Zuckerberg also said during the company’s Q2 earnings call in late July that the company would “steadily reduce its workforce growth over the next year,” as well as reduce and restructure other teams. by CNBC.
Facebook had a $500 million per year contract with Accenture, per year New York Times, to provide the company with people who are paid by the hour. Employees told Insider that Accenture said there was “no guarantee” it would provide more work for people fired from Facebook.
In Wednesday’s call, Accenture told employees HR would try to find them another home if they applied. If they didn’t get the positions or didn’t go for them, the workers would be paid until October 3.