Meta, with the world's second largest share of digital ad revenue after Google, has started cutting about 4,000 jobs, or 5% of its workforce.
Employees were informed through an internal memo on Friday, obtained by Reuters.
Affected employees in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US have started to be notified.
Employees in Germany, France, Italy and the Netherlands will be exempt from the cuts "due to local regulations".
Meta in Australia had "no comment".
The company confirmed last month it was planning to trim about 5% of its "lowest performers", the Friday memo referred to the cuts as "performance terminations".
Despite the layoffs goal to eliminate underperformers, some Meta employees said they received positive performance ratings and were 'blindsided' by loosing their jobs.
"I have never received a review below 'Meets All' my 3+ years at Meta, and I was on mat leave for 6 months until November," Meta lead product counsel Elana Reman Safner said on LinkedIn.
"It is very hard to believe that – despite Meta indicating my expectations are prorated – I did not do enough. Many laid off today have similar stories – a history of good performance, and a recent leave of absence."
Meta posted a 21% lift in revenue to $US48.385 billion in the December quarter, beating analyst expectations. Full year revenue was up 22% to $US164.5 billion.
Meta said it had more than 74,000 employees at the end of December, a 10% increase on 2023.
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