The salad days of Facebook may be over.
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, told employees on Friday that it was cutting back or eliminating free services like laundry and dry cleaning, and that it was pushing back the dinner bell for a free meal from 6 pm to 6:30 pm, according to seven company employees who spoke on the matter.
The last of the company's shuttles that take employees to and from their homes usually leaves the office at 6 p.m., so the new dinner time is inconvenient. It will make it harder for workers to stock up on large to-go boxes of food and bring them to their homes.
Changes in workplace culture in Silicon Valley are reflected in the moves. Tech companies that often offer lifestyle perks in return for employees spending long hours in the office are preparing to adapt to a new hybrid work model.
Many employees will return to the company's offices on March 28, though some will work from home and others will not.
The changes could be a warning to employees at other companies that are about to return to work after two years. The tech industry still offers creature comforts like on-site medical attention, sushi buffets, candy stores and beanbag chairs to lure and retain top talent.
Company officials say the changes to perks are not related to Meta's difficult past few months. The company dominated the social media landscape for a long time. As younger competitors like TikTok gain traction, it is undergoing dramatic changes. The long-term prospects of the company's advertising business model have been questioned by investors. Its market value has fallen by half. Some employees are wondering if they should be looking for a new job as their stock-based compensation is no longer worth as much.
The metaverse, an online virtual world that has yet to be created, was announced last year by Meta's chief executive. Employees who were not willing to join the company were pushed out of the company.
Two employees said that Meta discussed the changes to its perks program for months as it explored how to shift to a hybrid workplace model. In order to accommodate for removing some of the in-office perks, the company has expanded its wellness stipend from $700 to $3,000 this year.
Meta has adjusted on-site services and amenities to better reflect the needs of its hybrid work force.
Several employees who viewed the post said that many workers were quick to complain in the comment section about the change. Just minutes after the changes were announced, employees asked if the company was planning to compensate them in new ways and if Meta had conducted an employee survey to evaluate how the changes would impact the staff.
Meta executives, who have been trying to crack down on misinformation tied to the war in Ukraine and facing an absolute ban of Facebook and Instagram in Russia, appeared to have little patience for the questions.
According to employees who saw the thread, Meta's chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, was assertively defended some of the changes and was annoyed by the sense of entitlement shown in the comments. The outgoing chief technology officer wrote in support of the changes.
Two people who saw the post said another employee on the food service team pushed back more strenuously.
When peers cram three to 10 to-go boxes full of steak to take them home, nobody cares about our culture, an employee said.
Many employees agreed. Hundreds of workers expressed their support for the employee's post, which was the most liked comment in the thread.
The perk of having laundry and dry cleaning for employees at Meta's headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., is over. According to a 2020 interview with a Facebook spokeswoman, the laundry service was intended to make people's lives easier by giving them free pickup and drop off around campus.
One employee, when reached for comment on the changes, text back, "Can't talk, doing laundry."
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