Contracting firms that employ shuttle bus drivers and other service workers that support Facebook (now known as Meta) say they will need to slash a significant number of workers in the wake of Mark Zuckerberg implementing relaxed policies that allow his employees to work from home.
WeDriveU, the main vendor that Meta uses for its shuttles, said it will be cutting staff near the social media giant’s headquarters in Silicon Valley by nearly 100 people starting next month, according to documents obtained by CNBC.
In addition to bus drivers, other WeDriveU employees at risk of losing their jobs in November include dispatchers, operations managers, and supervisors.
Another shuttle vendor that Facebook uses, Hallcon Corporation, says it will be laying off 63 workers from its San Francisco location in late November due to a “significant draw down of client services.”
A company HR director added that “some employees may be maintained or recalled to work,” but maintained that “no Hallcon Company employee who is being laid off should count on being recalled.”
Stacy Murphy, the vice president of Teamsters Bay Area Local 853 — a union with over 15,000 members in industries including transportation — noted that all four of Facebook’s vendors are losing workers.
Murphy added that while Facebook has slashed shuttle staff over the last three months, this most recent cutback is “the biggest we’ve ever seen.” In response, she said the union plans to pressure the social media giant to get its employees back into the office.
“Other tech companies are demanding they come back — why haven’t they?” Murphy asked. “They want to stay at home and that impacts all of the people that support the company’s overall performance.”
The layoffs come as Facebook seeks to cut costs by 10 percent or more after the company reported its first-ever revenue decline in the second quarter, and is expected to record another drop when third-quarter numbers come in.
Facebook stock is also trading near its lowest since early 2019, and is one of the worst performers this year in the S&P 500, CNBC notes.
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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