Los Angeles: Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, has terminated around 24 employees at its Los Angeles office for misusing their daily meal credits.
The tech giant discovered that some staff members were exploiting the system to purchase non-food items, including toothpaste, laundry detergent, and even glasses—raising ethical questions about employee perks in Silicon Valley.
In smaller offices without canteens, employees receive $25 vouchers for delivery apps like Grubhub, which they can use to order food while working in the office. However, Meta found that some employees were using these vouchers to order household items instead.
Media reports indicate that an investigation found some employees, including one earning $400,000 a year, were using their meal allowances to purchase groceries and household items instead of meals.
An employee, who wishes to remain anonymous, admitted to the practice on the messaging platform Blind, stating, “On days when I wouldn’t be eating at the office, like if my husband was cooking or if I was grabbing dinner with friends, I figured I shouldn’t waste the dinner credit.”
This incident, among others, emerged during a broader HR investigation into the use of meal credits. Those found guilty of frequent violations were dismissed, while employees with minor infractions received warnings but were allowed to keep their jobs.
Meta and other Silicon Valley companies have long offered free food in their offices as an incentive for employees to work on-site rather than from home, and to encourage longer working hours with options like breakfast and dinner.
Staff members received warnings about abusing the meal voucher scheme, but those who continued to misuse it were let go last week.
The news follows Meta's announcement of layoffs affecting a larger number of employees across WhatsApp, Instagram, and its virtual reality unit on Wednesday. The company announced it was restructuring and reallocating staff.
