Unpacking two recent changes to Meta’s compensation programs

Meta executives are eligible for bigger bonuses this year, according to a recent company filing. At the same time, though, most staffers at the tech company are seeing their equity compensation shrink, raising questions about worker morale.

Boosting bonuses. In a Feb. 13 filing Meta said named executive officers would be eligible for bonuses equivalent to up to 200% of their base salary in 2025, up from 75% previously. The company said its compensation committee approved the change after an analysis revealed executives’ total cash compensation was at or below the 15th percentile of those in similar positions at peer companies (CEO Mark Zuckerberg was excluded from the analysis). Their pay is now in the 50th percentile, according to the filing.

But even as Meta executives are receiving a potential pay bump, most employees’ equity-based compensation is shrinking, according to a Feb. 20 Financial Times report. Employees’ “equity refreshers,” which vest every three months and make up most of their pay along with base salaries and bonuses, will decrease by about 10% this year, they’ve reportedly been told.

Meta declined to comment by the time of publication.

Meta’s pay practices are in the spotlight. The changes to Meta’s compensation programs come shortly after the firm began laying off roughly 3,600 workers, citing performance-related reasons. In recent years the company has cut some 20,000 employees in a move to promote “efficiency,” and started to invest heavily in AI.

Offering equity, which grants compensation to employees in the form of options, restricted stock units, or shares, is a common practice in the tech sector. These grants may account for the reason some senior-level employees have stuck around at companies like Meta, Zuhayeer Musa, co-founder of the salary tracking site Levels.fyi, recently suggested on LinkedIn.

On the anonymous workplace forum Blind, one Meta staffer suggested shrinking equity pay, coupled with recent layoffs, might spur high turnover at Meta in the coming years, the FT reported.

Job cuts can bring attention to executive pay, HR Brew has previously reported. Amid a wave of layoffs in 2023, some firms reduced pay for highly compensated leaders. But such moves don’t necessarily prevent layoffs, a report from the research non-profit JUST Capital suggested.