Facebook owner Meta planning lower bonus payouts for some employees- WSJ

(Reuters) -Facebook owner Meta Platforms Inc is planning to lower bonus pays for some employees, and assess staff performance more frequently, the Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday, citing an internal memo.

Employees of the social media giant, who get a rating of "met most expectations" in their 2023 year-end reviews, will receive a smaller percentage of bonus and restricted stock award due in March 2024, the WSJ report said.

The bonus multiplier for that grade has been cut to 65% from 85% earlier, WSJ said, adding that the company will also restart assessing staff performance twice a year.

"We are making changes to our performance process, taking into account learnings and feedback over the last year while optimizing for the future. These changes are not related to workforce restructuring," a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters, without giving any further details.

On March 14, the company announced that it would cut 10,000 jobs this year in a second round of layoffs, as part of restructuring that will see it scrap hiring plans for 5,000 openings, kill off lower-priority projects and "flatten" layers of middle management, as the industry braces for a deep economic downturn.

(Reporting by Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Lavanya Ahire; Editing by Varun H K)