This article was originally published on August 19, 2022.

Metaformerly known as Facebook, told its employees in June that it plans not only to reduce its hiring target, but also to “turn it up” through stricter performance management to weed out underperforming employees.

If turning up the heat wasn’t enough, the Mark Zuckerberg-run company randomly fired 60 employees using an algorithm, Business Insider reported.

What happened: The contractual partners work together with Facebook

Accenturewhich Facebook provides contract workers for various hourly tasks.

When an employee asked how the layoffs came about, Accenture officials said “an algorithm” helped randomly select the employees, the report said.

Insiders said Accenture didn’t give employees replacement positions immediately, instead instructing them to reapply for any positions that became available over the following two weeks.

The future ex-employees were informed via video conference that they would be out of work from September 2 and pay would end on October 3.

The layoffs follow a company-wide Q&A in June, at which Zuckerberg outlined Meta’s plans for the remainder of the year.

“If I had to bet, I’d say this could be one of the worst downturns we’ve seen in recent history,” the tech CEO told Meta staffers at the Q&A session.
Related: Mark Zuckerberg tells staff – “Self-selection is fine with me” and wants those who “shouldn’t be” at Meta to leave

“Realistically, there’s probably a lot of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” he said, according to multiple reports.

Why it matters: The social media company began austerity plans a few months ago as it first lost around 500,000 users in late 2021.

Meta expects sales to fall this year, partly due to the Russia-Ukraine war.

Additionally, in early 2022, Meta said it expects to lose $10 billion in revenue as a result…