Meta is asking some of its employees to become managers again in a new reorg

Meta, the social media giant, is asking some of its employees in the Applied AI division if they would like to revert back to management roles. The company had previously converted these individuals from management positions as part of a previous reorganization. This new initiative is an opt-in program, according to sources familiar with the matter.

The Applied AI division, launched this year, focuses on training AI models and encompassed approximately 7,000 employees. Prior to their transition to individual contributor roles, some of these employees had been managers within the division. Meta has not commented on the matter. This move represents a partial reversal for Meta, which has been aggressively downsizing its middle management ranks and promoting smaller, flatter teams as a more efficient organizational structure.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has expressed support for lean startup-style organizations, particularly in light of AI's increasing role in the company's operations. In 2023, Meta conducted significant layoffs, cutting about 10% of its workforce to streamline operations and manage the costs of its AI investments. The layoffs disproportionately affected managers, as revealed by a Business Insider analysis of public layoff notices.

This situation is not the first time Meta has changed its approach to internal restructuring. The company had previously allowed some employees reassigned to the Applied AI unit to leave the organization following criticism that they had been "drafted" into the role. Not all tech companies have fully embraced the manager-lite, small teams model. Uber recently announced it was cutting half of its "micro-teams" as part of recent layoffs.