Financial Associated Press, February 21 (Editor Zhao Hao) The latest news shows that the American technology giant Meta Platforms has cut equity incentives for most employees for the second consecutive year.
According to people familiar with the matter, Meta will reduce the size of its annual stock options for most employees by about 5%, a decision that affects tens of thousands of employees. In the previous year, the company had cut about 10%, which shocked many employees at the time.
The compensation structure for Meta employees includes base salary, annual bonuses, and "equity refreshers." The company will adjust equity compensation based on industry trends, but still strives to provide competitive or even leading packages in various markets.
Some employees have discovered that the equity awards they receive this year will be reduced by about 5%, but the specific reduction will vary depending on the position.
Some employees discussed the pay change on the anonymous workplace forum Blind. One person wrote: "Another cut. What am I working so hard for? Goodbye Meta!" Another joked: "Then I'll cut my hours by 5%."
However, some employees said that with the job market in the technology industry weak and the company's overall salary still attractive, the possibility of large-scale resignations is not high.
In addition, Meta is also reforming the performance appraisal system. Several people familiar with the matter said the new system would provide higher rewards for top employees. While equity awards have generally shrunk, companies' overall compensation budgets have actually increased as they have been tilted toward high-performing employees.
At present, Zuckerberg has begun to make staggering expenditures in the field of artificial intelligence, trying to surpass competitors such as OpenAI and Google in advanced models, and achieving "super intelligence" as the ultimate goal.
Last month, Meta predicted in its performance report that capital expenditures would reach US$115 billion to US$135 billion in 2026, exceeding analysts' average forecast of US$110.6 billion. This figure is nearly double its 2025 capital expenditures ($72.2 billion).
At the same time, Zuckerberg also poached top AI talents from competitors with annual salaries and bonuses of tens or even hundreds of millions of dollars.
To appease nervous investors who have yet to see huge returns on their investments in AI, Zuckerberg is also pushing for greater efficiency and cost-cutting in other areas. In January this year, the company cut about 1,500 jobs in its loss-making Metaverse division.
(Zhao Hao, Financial Associated Press)
