Meta CTO Admits Morale Is Among the Worst in Company's 20-Year History

Meta's chief technology officer Andrew 'Boz' Bosworth told employees during an internal June 2 chat that morale at the company is near an all-time low — ranking it alongside the darkest period in Meta's history: the Cambridge Analytica scandal of 2018, when millions of Facebook users' data was harvested to target voters in the 2016 U.S. election. Bosworth said the current situation is 'probably one of the worst it's ever been,' a striking admission from one of the company's most senior executives.

The discontent stems from a turbulent stretch that has hit employees on multiple fronts. In May, Meta cut roughly 10% of its workforce, framing the layoffs as necessary to fund its massive AI spending push. Then another 10% of staff were involuntarily reassigned to AI model training work — a move employees internally described as being 'drafted.' Many viewed the mandatory reassignment as little more than data-labeling grunt work, a sharp departure from the engineering and product roles they were hired for. Adding to the tension, Meta rolled out an initiative in April to monitor employee mouse movements and keystrokes to feed its AI development, triggering a fresh wave of backlash.

In response, Bosworth sent an internal memo Monday laying out a series of commitments to rebuild trust and culture. He pledged transparency from leadership, support for employees' career development, and the promise that workers reassigned to the AI task force would be allowed to reapply for other internal roles. Meta is also loosening the purse strings on perks — increasing budgets for travel, events, and snacks — a classic Silicon Valley signal that management is trying to reset the mood. The memo framed the challenge as making Meta 'the best place for the best people to do their best work' and expressed hope of rekindling the culture that originally drew employees to the company.