Adapted by:
Rubén Andrés
WriterWriter at Xataka. I've been working remotely for more than a decade and I'm a strong advocate of technology as a way to improve our lives. Full-time addict of black, sugar-free coffee.
Karen Alfaro
WriterCommunications professional with a decade of experience as a copywriter, proofreader, and editor. As a travel and science journalist, I've collaborated with several print and digital outlets around the world. I'm passionate about culture, music, food, history, and innovative technologies.
Meta has undergone intense staff restructuring for two years, in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg once called “the year of efficiency.” According to TechSpot, Meta has laid off about 35,600 employees since 2020.
The latest round of layoffs came just days ago when Zuckerberg announced that the company would cut 5% of its current workforce while opening new positions for AI developers. Many former Meta employees could apply for these roles, but Business Insider reported the existence of a “blacklist” preventing some from returning.
Not to be rehired. One Meta engineer laid off in 2022 noticed a pattern when he applied for more than 20 positions at the company throughout 2023. Hiring managers expressed interest in his skills, but recruiters eliminated him early in the process. When he asked a hiring manager, he was told the hiring team had deemed him “ineligible for rehire.”
“That was the first time I had a real indication that I was on some kind of list,” the engineer told Business Insider. Five former employees confirmed similar experiences to the media outlet.
Reasons for not rehiring someone. Companies may blacklist former employees for various reasons, including inappropriate behavior, leaking confidential information, and underperformance. These factors can lead to a “not eligible for rehire” designation.
A Meta spokesperson stated, “There are clear criteria for when someone is marked ineligible for rehire that are applied to all departing employees and there are checks and balances in the process so that a single manager cannot unilaterally tag someone ineligible without support.”
“We determine, at the time of separation, the reason for the employee’s departure—policy violation, performance termination, voluntary resignation etc.—and that, along with the last rating prior to separation and any other recent performance signals, determines whether an employee is eligible for rehire or not,” the spokesperson told Business Insider.
Business Insider couldn’t confirm the physical existence of a hiring blacklist. However, a review of Meta’s internal communications found systematic denials from multiple hiring managers when attempting to rehire certain former employees.
A restriction on hiring top talent. While these lists aren’t illegal, experts told TechSpot they are uncommon at major tech companies, which constantly compete for top talent.
Laszlo Bock, Google’s former director of people operations, said this practice is “incredibly uncommon. This is very, very rare. I’ve actually never heard of a company having a ‘do not rehire’ designation for former employees, because if an employee was a decent or good performer, you’d much rather hire somebody who actually knows your company and culture than somebody else.”
Returning to Meta. Following Meta’s recent layoffs, which the company attributed to poor performance after tightening its criteria, some former employees have questioned why they would reapply to a company that fired them.
The engineer who discovered Meta’s blocklist told Inc. he had a compelling reason: “It’s the worst company I’ve ever worked for. But they also pay the best. If I could get in there for a couple more years and make bank, I would do it.”
Image | Dima Solomin (Unsplash)
View 0 comments