Ex-employee claims Meta platforms dominated by Chinese workers, alleges non-Chinese targeted in layoffs

Bernier was among the roughly 8,000 employees affected by Meta’s layoffs on May 20. He shared his experiences of working at the company through a series of posts on X.

Chinese-Dominated Teams

In multiple posts, Bernier claimed that certain teams in Ads and MRS were heavily dominated by Chinese employees. He further alleged that the majority of workers impacted by layoffs on his team were non-Chinese, stating that “6 out of the 7 layoffs I observed targeted non-Chinese.”

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Bernier also wrote, “I think Americans would be outraged if they knew that their own citizens were getting marginalized and laid off at their own companies, while Chinese promote themselves up, conquer entire orgs, and reap millions.”

In another post, Bernier accused some Chinese employees of using workplace tactics that further isolated native workers. He alleged that Mandarin was frequently spoken at work. According to him, meetings were conducted in English, but employees would immediately switch back to Mandarin afterward.

“Lunch was another place where non-Chinese were blatantly excluded,” Bernier wrote. “Recall that the team I joined was an all-Chinese team with only one other non-Chinese person. The Chinese would always get lunch together and never invite us. Me and the other non-Chinese person would invite them, they’d always refuse, and then shortly afterward they’d disappear and get lunch together.”

Bernier also recounted an incident during a team dinner at a Korean barbecue restaurant. He claimed that two team leads initially sat away from him and another non-Chinese colleague before later joining them. According to Bernier, the group spent the entire evening speaking Chinese among themselves, leaving him unable to understand the conversation. He questioned how Meta could have “tech leads” who so openly excluded teammates.

Mixed Reactions Online

Bernier’s posts have sparked mixed reactions online. One user joked, “White guy: You all speak English to me! I should be the protagonist!” Another commented, “This is hilarious, and I can’t stop laughing.”

However, Bernier’s accusations have also reignited discussions around hiring trends in the tech industry. Last year, Meta went on an aggressive hiring spree for its superintelligence team, which is considered a key part of the company’s broader ambitions in artificial intelligence.

Meta reportedly offered substantial compensation packages — in some cases exceeding $150 million — to attract talent from rivals such as Apple, Google, and OpenAI.

Soon afterward, a social media user shared what was claimed to be an internal list of employees working on Meta’s AI initiatives. The list allegedly contained the names of 44 employees, with the user claiming it had been obtained from an anonymous Meta worker. According to the post, at least 50% of the hires were from China, alongside two Indian-origin researchers, Trapit Bansal and Hammad Syed.