Instagram is cutting a level of management, allowing impacted workers to 'reinterview' for another role

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Meta's Instagram started off the new year by telling at least 60 workers their jobs were disappearing, sources told Business Insider.

The change at the popular platform happened this week and affected technical program managers across the Instagram organization, according to two people familiar with the company and a post to Blind, an app popular with tech workers that verifies users' employment. The TPM role is essentially being eliminated at Instagram, but workers are being given the opportunity to apply and reinterview to become a product manager. However if they aren't selected for a new role, their employment will end in March.

A spokesperson for Meta declined to comment.

A former Instagram employee posted to LinkedIn about "expected changes to TPM roles," adding that people are expected to "re-interview for PM roles" or product manager roles.

TPMs in tech are positioned between technical workers like engineers and PMs. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg invoked last year a new company mantra of "efficiency" aimed at removing layers of management. The result was thousands of layoffs last year and a reduction in management ranks, as well as the rate of hiring and promotions, although the company has been hiring back some laid off workers.

The elimination of TPMs is in line with what's been referred to as "the flattening" at Meta. Beyond layoffs, Meta's restructuring last year included some other management roles being eliminated, and many employees at the management level were told they could "convert" to another role not in management, as BI reported.

After most of the planned mass layoffs were over last year, Zuckerberg in a meeting with employees did not deny that more jobs would be eliminated in the future. Insiders later told BI that the CEO was still looking to get the company's overall head count closer to where it was in 2020 before it went on a massive hiring spree. CFO Susan Li, too, noted changes would come to the company as it looked at projects and teams to "wind down."

Over the ensuing months, Meta employees were left to wonder if and when more cuts to head count would come as they were ordered to return to the office or else face being fired. A smaller layoff last fall hit a team in Reality Labs.

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Kali Hays was a Tech Correspondent at Business Insider covering the major social media platforms like Meta, Twitter, and Snap. Her reporting covered major changes and the internal culture at these companies, the founders and executives who run them, and business developments and products. Hays also wrote frequently about AI and emerging trends and shifts in the tech industry overall. Her work has been widely cited, including by the FTC in an investigation into Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter, and she has appeared as an expert on NBC, CBS, the BBC and elsewhere. She lives in the San Francisco Bay Area and can be contacted directly with information by phone or text at +1-949-280-0267. Reach out using secure messaging app Signal or with a non-work device. Find her on Twitter at @hayskali or on Threads @kalihays1.Her exclusive reporting and scoops include:Meta's Facebook Messenger hit with layoffs amid ongoing 'efficiency' pushLayoff angst looms over Meta employees as they face tough performance reviews and ongoing reorgsMeta aiming to reveal and demo Orion, its first true AR glasses, at its fall developer conferenceMeta's Responsible AI team shrinks amid layoffs and restructuring, even as the company goes all-in on AIMeta updates RTO policy with stricter mandate, saying workers may lose their jobs if they don't show up 3 days a weekLeaked documents from Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's charity include a tacit admission that their biggest bet on education reform was a flop'He is in war time': Mark Zuckerberg's desperate, last-ditch attempt to remake himself — and MetaOpenAI is expected to release a 'materially better' GPT-5 for its chatbot mid-year, sources sayOpenAI's employees were given 2 explanations for why Sam Altman was fired. They're unconvinced and furious.AI is killing the grand bargain at the heart of the web. 'We're in a different world.'Jack Dorsey warns Block employees of coming job cuts: 'The growth of our company has far outpaced the growth of our business.'Elon Musk is considering taking X out of Europe amid EU compliance investigationLeak: Elon Musk said he wants X to be a dating app, too, in an all-hands meeting on the anniversary of his Twitter takeoverLinda Yaccarino, Elon Musk, and the most difficult CEO job on earthElon Musk's Twitter races to build a live video service as it woos right-wing media personalitiesElon Musk is moving forward with a new generative-AI project at Twitter after purchasing thousands of GPUsSnap begins a new round of layoffs with staffers expecting more next weekEvan Spiegel proclaims 'social media is dead' in leaked memo, predicts Snap is about to 'transcend' the smartphoneSnap workers say they're being closely 'tracked' to enforce compliance with the RTO mandateHow Snap misread big threats from TikTok and Apple and lost its chance at becoming an advertising giant

Sydney Bradley has been covering media and tech for Business Insider since 2020. She breaks news and writes extensively about Instagram and Facebook, as well as new platforms and startups shaping social media, dating apps, the creator economy, venture capital, and tech culture.Sydney's reporting on Instagram was nominated as a finalist for the 2021 Los Angeles Press Club National Entertainment Journalism Awards.She graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in American Studies. You can follow Sydney's work on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram at @sydneykbradley.Have a tip? You can also contact her via encrypted messaging app Signal (@sydneykbradley.123), encrypted email (sydneykbradley@proton.me), or standard email (sbradley@businessinsider.com). Use a personal email address, a nonwork WiFi network, and a nonwork device; here’s our guide to sharing information securely.Selected stories: