Meta layoffs: More cuts possible after 10% workforce reduction on May 20 - The Economic Times

Meta's chief people officer has announced a 10% workforce reduction on May 20, with the cheery caveat that more cuts are 'possible.' Because nothing says 'we value our employees' like firing one in ten and hinting the guillotine might get another spin. The real treat, though, is the company's revelation that it processes employee keystrokes and mouse movements—abstracted, of course—to train its AI models. So your frantic right-clicking before being axed will help the algorithm that replaces you learn to click faster. Lovely.

This is the new social contract: you give your job, your data, and your nervous system's data, and in return you get a severance package and the warm glow of knowing you've contributed to Big Tech's efficiency drive. Mark Zuckerberg's quest for the metaverse apparently requires not just your VR headset but your every hesitation before hitting send. The 'abstracted' bit is a lovely touch—who cares about privacy when the abstraction layer makes it all seem sanitary?

And the 'further cuts possible' language is just the icing on the cake. Why give employees any sense of security when you can keep them in a state of perpetual dread? It's a management style that combines the warmth of a spreadsheet with the humanity of a Turing test gone wrong. Meta is building the AI of the future on the backs—and the typing patterns—of its soon-to-be-ex employees. A perfect circle of efficiency, really.