Inside Meta’s Secret: How Facebook Tracks Annual Leave (and Why It’s Different)

Introduction

Meta Platforms (previously Facebook) is famed for creating its own tools. Their approach to HR and employee management is no different. Many companies depend on external systems, but Meta relies on home-built solutions. Let’s look at how this affects the tracking of annual leave, and what makes Meta’s HR approach unique.

Key Findings

• Meta depends on a proprietary, internal HR management system for all key HR processes.^2
• This system manages performance, feedback, and likely annual leave.
• Meta does not use commercial HR software, and no evidence shows a third-party platform is involved.
• Workplace from Meta, their well-known collaboration tool, was not used as a main HR or leave tracker and is now being discontinued.^3

Analysis

Meta's Internal HR System

Meta has built a bespoke HR management system, designed to fit its unique culture and needs. Performance management is central, with features like ongoing feedback, 360-degree reviews, and detailed, biannual rating cycles. Employees and managers give constant feedback, supporting career growth.

It is likely that annual leave is also managed through this internal HR platform. Most major tech companies control sensitive staff data through custom-built Human Resource Information Systems (HRIS). This approach gives them better security, scalability, and integration with other business tools.

Annual Leave Tracking

There are no published details on the exact leave management module. But all evidence points toward annual leave being one of the features bundled into Meta’s broader HR platform. Large firms like Meta design these systems so that leave requests, balances, and approvals are tracked securely in-house.

For any business considering how to modernise their own absence tracking, this example shows the benefits of a purpose-built solution. You can read more about why leading organisations are moving to dedicated annual leave management software on our homepage.

Not Workplace From Meta

Although Meta offered by “Workplace from Meta” for team communications, this product is not (and was never) the core system for HR data or leave management. Its sunset, set for August 2025, will have little effect on how Meta manages leave internally.^3

Conclusion

Meta Platforms stands apart from most by developing its own HR technology from the ground up. While details remain private, all available data suggests annual leave is tracked inside a secure, custom-built internal system. Third-party leave software is not used, and no specific HR vendor is named.

If you are growing and thinking about improving your own leave processes (without Meta’s resources), purpose-made solutions are worth considering.