Mark Zuckerberg’s plans to overhaul Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, hit a snag recently. It appears that the ambitious initiative aimed at using artificial intelligence to replace many employees faced significant pushback.
Details have emerged about Project OT (Organization Transformation), a strategy developed by Zuckerberg and other top leaders, which proposed a drastic reshaping of the company’s workforce through AI.
The proposal suggested creating small groups of skilled human employees, consisting of only 3-5 members, to manage virtual workers, drastically reducing larger teams of 10-20 people, as disclosed in internal documents.
To implement this plan, executives aimed to cut up to 60% of many teams, which could have led to massive layoffs. Initial layoffs were planned for May, followed by additional reductions in November, according to those planning documents.
Moreover, job openings would be frozen, and underperformers targeted. To facilitate this, Meta introduced a human resources tool intended to identify top talent who could supposedly handle the workload of an entire team alongside AI.
However, the execution of this plan was not as smooth as anticipated. Although layoffs occurred in May, the second round set for November was scrapped.
Reports indicate that employees reacted strongly after learning about potential layoffs. A lawsuit, involving over two dozen staff members, claimed the company utilized an internal AI system to unfairly identify employees to be let go, disproportionately affecting those with disabilities.
Additionally, news of the company implementing tracking software on employee devices to train AI agents further fueled discontent among workers, who expressed their frustrations through messages on internal platforms, sometimes even mocking the company’s executives.
A company survey highlighted a steep decline in employee morale, dropping from a favorable rating of 74% to just 55% after the announcements.
Technical challenges also arose, with reports of increased service disruptions and potential data leaks attributed to a heavy reliance on unregulated AI systems. Concerns about the AI’s effectiveness were also voiced in internal discussions.
This entire situation led Zuckerberg to reconsider his approach. In a town hall meeting in July, he acknowledged that AI technology had not developed as rapidly as he expected, making some concessions regarding the project.
Now, Meta is working hard to rebrand itself as a company focused more on people. Zuckerberg emphasized that the company aims to empower individuals and ensure that the benefits of new technology are spread widely rather than concentrating solely on automation.
While Meta confirmed the existence of Project OT in a statement, it claimed that the drastic layoffs had never been the intended outcome.
The company reiterated that some teams had engaged in a scenario planning exercise to explore the possible effects of staffing changes but emphasized that not all proposed scenarios would be executed.
