After 1,000 layoffs, Meta lines up 300% bonuses for top performers

Meta is preparing to hand out bonuses of up to 300 per cent of base pay to a small group of top-performing employees — just days after confirming fresh job cuts that will affect more than 1,000 workers.

The move underscores how sharply the Facebook owner is separating winners from the rest as it doubles down on artificial intelligence and trims parts of the business it no longer sees as core.

According to Business Insider, Meta is set to roll out a new performance review system, known internally as Checkpoint, starting in mid-2026. The framework simplifies employee ratings while dramatically increasing rewards for those judged to have delivered “exceptional impact”.

The timing has drawn attention. Meta recently confirmed another round of layoffs, largely in its Reality Labs division, which houses its virtual reality and metaverse efforts. The cuts are expected to affect about 10 per cent of the unit’s workforce, as the company shifts resources towards AI-powered products, wearables and software features.

Under the new Checkpoint system, employees will be assessed on a four-tier scale: Outstanding, Excellent, Needs Improvement and Not Meeting Expectations. Business Insider reported that around 20 per cent of employees are expected to be rated Outstanding, qualifying them for bonuses worth 200 per cent of base pay.

The majority of staff — roughly 70 per cent — are projected to land in the Excellent category, which comes with a 115 per cent bonus multiplier and is described internally as Meta’s performance baseline. Those marked as Needs Improvement would see bonuses cut to about 50 per cent, while employees rated Not Meeting Expectations would receive no bonus at all.

On top of this, Meta plans to introduce a new Meta Award, reserved for a very small group of employees whose work is deemed to have had an extraordinary effect on the business. Winners of the award would receive bonuses of up to 300 per cent, according to the report.

Meta’s leadership has framed the overhaul as a response to inefficiency. Internal data cited by Business Insider showed managers spending nearly 80 hours a year on performance reviews, while employees collectively logged more than 330,000 hours per cycle on peer feedback — much of it seen as low-value.

Checkpoint is designed to speed that up. The company will move to two formal review cycles a year, with bonuses paid after each cycle, equity grants calculated on the average of both ratings, and salary increases decided at year-end.

The contrast between layoffs and outsized bonuses reflects a broader shift under chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, who has made clear that Meta’s future rests on AI execution rather than headcount growth. The company has repeatedly said it wants fewer layers, faster decisions and higher individual impact.

For employees, the message is unambiguous: Meta is no longer spreading rewards evenly. In a company increasingly defined by AI bets and cost discipline, performance — as Meta defines it — is about to matter more than ever.