IT company lays off 24 employees because food credits were used to purchase household items

Even an annual salary of Rs 3 crore did not stop some meta employees from blatantly misusing company-provided food credits for personal purchases. According to a report by Financial TimesThese employees had used their $25 meal credit to purchase non-food items such as toothpaste, acne pads and wine glasses. Like other large technology companies, Meta offers its employees extensive dining options in the office.

Employees who work in large offices like the Silicon Valley headquarters receive free on-site meals, while employees in smaller offices receive credits for Uber Eats or Grubhub intended for meal delivery to the office.

Smaller meta offices typically offer daily allowances of $20 for breakfast, $25 for lunch, and $25 for dinner, paid out in $25 increments. However, the company fired two dozen employees after it discovered they had used those meal credits to purchase household items.

The tech company only took action against employees who consistently abused the food credit system. Some had their meals delivered to their homes, even though the credits were strictly for office use, while others pooled their credits. A source told FT that employees who occasionally misused the loans were not fired but received warnings.

“It was surreal,” one of the fired employees shared on the app Blind, where verified professionals anonymously discuss workplace experiences. This former Meta employee admitted to using his $25 meal credit for personal items like Rite Aid toothpaste and said he made $400,000 (approximately $3.3) while working at Meta billion rupees).

They explained that on days when they didn’t eat at the office, such as when their spouse was cooking or they were eating with friends, they felt it was better to use the credit than to waste it. When HR questioned them, they admitted the mistake, but were still unexpectedly fired. “It felt surreal that this was happening,” they wrote. These layoffs are unrelated to the broader layoffs that affected Meta-owned companies such as WhatsApp and Threads.