Layoffs have become a new normal in todays world with companies frequently restructuring and downsizing. In a significant development Mark Zuckerberg-led company Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook) has announced plans to proceed with its company-wide layoffs next week while still focusing on the accelerated hiring of machine learning engineers. Meta informed employees through internal memos obtained by Reuters on Friday. According to a Reuters report notices will be sent to employees who are being laid off starting at 5 am local time on Monday in most countries including the US as stated in one of the posts written by Metas Head of People Janelle Gale. As per the report employees in Germany France Italy and the Netherlands will be excluded from the layoffs due to local regulations. Meanwhile workers in over a dozen other countries across Europe Asia and Africa will receive their notifications between February 11 and February 18. A Meta spokesperson refrained from commenting on the posts reported Reuters. The report further mentioned that the company had confirmed last month that it planned to reduce about 5% of its lowest performers and fill at least some of those positions. The memo where Gale referred to the layoffs as performance terminations was initially reported by The Information. In contrast to previous company-wide layoffs Meta plans to keep its offices open on Monday and will not release any further updates regarding the decisions Gale stated in her post. Earlier on Friday a separate memo from Peng Fan VP of Engineering for Monetization urged staff to support the accelerated hiring process for machine learning engineers and other business critical engineering roles. This move reflects Metas ongoing efforts to adjust its workforce to focus on areas deemed essential for the companys future growth. A separate memo posted by VP of Engineering for Monetization Peng Fan also on Friday asked staffers to assist with an expedited hiring process for machine learning engineers and other business critical engineering roles.