Meta, the tech giant behind Facebook, has begun a brutal round of layoffs targeting around 5% of its workforce, roughly 3,600 positions. These cuts, labeled as 'performance-based terminations,' are the company's latest effort to streamline operations amidst a shift towards artificial intelligence and evolving market dynamics.

Employees were informed on Monday, with the dreaded day now dubbed 'Black Monday' across the company. The cuts are particularly harsh, as they primarily focus on the 'lowest performers,' a term that has employees both anxious and furious.

With labor laws offering some protection in Europe, the layoffs are felt most acutely in the U.S. as Meta prepares to pivot towards hiring machine learning engineers. Read on for the full story.