Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, recently reintroduced the controversial employee review system “Rank and Yank.” This system, where employees are categorized into performance groups, has faced heavy criticism in the past.
What is happening at Meta right now? Meta has instructed its managers, according to an internal memo, to classify 15-20% of the workforce as “below expectations” – more than in previous years. These ratings could ultimately decide who stays and who must go in the future (via Business Insider, Paywall).
Although there are currently no new mass layoffs planned, many employees are aware: Poor ratings increase the risk of being quietly sorted out. The timing fits the pattern – just at the beginning of the year, Meta cut around 3,600 jobs, partly under similar circumstances (via N-TV).
This approach also aligns with Zuckerberg’s vision. Zuckerberg has repeatedly made it clear that he intends to increasingly replace human programming tasks with AI systems (via 3Djuegos).
What is “Rank and Yank” anyway?
How does Rank and Yank
work? In the “Rank and Yank” system (freely translated: Evaluate and Cull), employees are internally classified into performance groups. The weakest – usually a fixed percentage – are considered replaceable. Terminations for those positioned in the lower range often follow.
What impact does Rank and Yank
have? The model became known through General Electric and former CEO Jack Welch. It is now regarded as demotivating and divisive in many industries, as it can pit teams against each other instead of fostering collaboration (via ScholarPublishing). Furthermore, research shows that employee engagement and a company’s profitability do not benefit long-term from such practices (via PersonnelToday).
Why do other tech companies no longer support “Rank and Yank”? The fact that Meta’s move is controversial is evident when looking at the competition. Microsoft, for example, abolished the same system in 2013.
At that time, the company eliminated the so-called “Stack Ranking,” which was based on the same principle: Employees were forced into performance groups – resulting in teams working against each other instead of, as originally intended, together (via Verge).
An insider has already commented on the working conditions at Facebook: In her book Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams describes a corporate culture characterized by control, performance pressure, and lack of empathy.
The return to “Rank and Yank” may help Meta increase efficiency in the short term. However, declining employee satisfaction and a further crumbling image could also be the result. For Zuckerberg and Meta, the ranking provides a constructed legitimacy to lay off employees, save personnel costs, and increasingly use AI. Because: Companies want to replace human programmers with AI, but there is a problem standing in the way
