COMMENT ON THIS NEWS ITEM BY LEONIE VAN TONDER, SENIOR ASSOCIATE, LEGITIMATE LEADERSHIP: This one action of a famous, super-rich person just gave me a little hope for the future of leadership and values. Leaders are very visible and our expectations of behaviour from them are exactly the same as for everybody else, irrespective of title. What does it say about your values if you can misappropriate $25? What is your price for fraud/theft/espionage? It is not the quantum, it’s the action. In South Africa this principle was ratified by the Labour Court in a case of a $2 pie. But there is a marked difference in accountabilities as you go up the line. The example you set is followed – NOT your words. For all to be treated equally, including engineers earning six-figure salaries, is refreshing and sends the right message to all of us – not just Meta staff. St Francis of Assisi said: ‘Preach the gospel at all times. When necessary, use words.’

THE NEWS ITEM: Meta, controlled by Mark Zuckerberg, has dismissed a number of staff members after they abused the company’s $25 meal scheme to order household goods like toothpaste and washing powder.

About 30 people in Meta’s Los Angeles office were dismissed after they were found to be routinely using takeaway credits to order groceries and cosmetics, according to reports. The sackings included engineers earning six-figure salaries, according to posts on the anonymous chat app Blind.

Meta, which is currently capitalised at about $1.5 trillion, provides staff with free breakfast, lunch and dinner at its main offices.

Those in smaller offices without staff canteens instead receive vouchers for delivery apps such as Grubhub, which they can use to order food when working at the office.

However, Meta recently discovered that some employees were using the $25 vouchers to order household items from stores that feature on the apps.

In some cases, staff were using the scheme to buy wine glasses and laundry detergent, according to the Financial Times.

Meta and other Silicon Valley companies have long offered free food in their offices, which are seen as an incentive to come into the office instead of working from home, or to encourage longer working hours.

Staff initially received warnings about abusing the meal voucher scheme, but those who continued to do so were fired.

The news came as Meta also laid off a larger number of staff across WhatsApp, Instagram and its virtual reality unit. The company said it was restructuring certain departments and moving some staff to other areas.

A Meta spokesman said: “Today, a few teams at Meta are making changes to ensure resources are aligned with their long-term strategic goals and location strategy.

“This includes moving some teams to different locations and moving some employees to different roles. In situations like this when a role is eliminated, we work hard to find other opportunities for impacted employees.”