Meta fires workers who spent meal credits on wine glasses and acne pads: report

Facebook and Instagram parent Meta has reportedly fired about two dozen employees in Los Angeles for misusing a $25 daily food allowance to stock up on household goods like wine glasses, acne pads and laundry detergent.

The fired workers were found to have abused the meal credit program – intended for workers who stay late at the office or work in offices without kitchens – over a long period of time, the Financial Times reported, citing a person familiar with the matter.

The layoffs were part of a broader restructuring at Mark Zuckerberg's social media giant that led to job cuts across several divisions on Tuesday, including the Instagram, WhatsApp and Reality Labs teams.

Employees were reportedly notified last week that they were being cut because of shenanigans in the meal program.

Some Meta employees complained about the crackdown on Blind, an app that checks whether its users work at the companies they specify but allows them to remain anonymous.

“On days when I didn't eat in the office, like when my husband was cooking or I was having dinner with friends, I thought I shouldn't waste the food credit,” a former Meta employee wrote in an FT post.

The worker, who said he had a salary of $400,000 and occasionally used the $25 credit to purchase items at Rite Aid, described the situation as “almost surreal.”

In some cases, workers abused the benefit by having meals delivered to their home instead of the office or by pooling their credits.

Other employees received warnings for policy violations but were not fired, the report said.

However, another Meta employee claimed on Blind that the fired workers “were given a warning to stop, which most of them did, but even after stopping they were still fired three months later.”

“It seems like warnings have no meaning and more people will be laid off in the next few months. I understand that policies can be strict, but this seems outrageous,” the employee wrote.

Meta did not comment specifically on the layoffs.

“Today, some teams at Meta are making changes to ensure resources are aligned with their long-term strategic goals and location strategy,” the company said in a statement.

“This includes moving some teams to other locations and moving some employees to other roles. In situations like this where a position is eliminated, we work hard to find other opportunities for the affected employees,” the company added.

The exact number of employees affected by the restructuring was not initially clear.

Zuckerberg previously cut more than 21,000 jobs last year, which he described as a “year of efficiency” at the Big Tech giant.

The cost-cutting moves came as Meta shifted more resources toward artificial intelligence.