Meta Says Goodbye to Workplace
Meta (formerly Facebook) is pulling the plug on Workplace, its enterprise communication and collaboration platform. After a decade-long run, Workplace will be decommissioned by May 2026.
The Beginning of Workplace Workplace started in 2014 as a product codenamed “Facebook @ Work.” It was built by a team in London led by Lars Rasmussen, the co-creator of Google Maps. The idea was to take Facebook’s popular news feed and group messaging and adapt it for workplace communication and productivity.
After launching out of beta as “Workplace” in 2016, it added integrations with popular business tools. Major companies like Walmart signed on as customers. However, Workplace faced fierce competition from rivals like Slack and Microsoft Teams that gained viral traction.
The Beginning of the End Sources say growth for Workplace slowed after the COVID-19 pandemic as companies evaluated their remote work strategies. Key employees departed, and Workplace never regained momentum.
Meta has decided to refocus on building AI and metaverse technologies as core priorities. An internal memo recommends Workplace customers migrate to Workvivo, an enterprise communication platform acquired by Zoom in 2023.
While Workplace aimed to diversify Meta’s business beyond advertising, it struggled to become a major revenue driver. Its shutdown allows Meta to streamline and “kill all non-core projects” under the company’s new identity and priorities.
The Workplace Wind-down
Although Workplace is being discontinued, Meta is giving customers a two-year runway to transition off the platform.
According to the internal memo, starting September 2025, Workplace will go into read-only mode where users can access existing data but not create new content. Then in May 2026, the platform will be completely decommissioned.
During this transition period until August 2025, it will be business as usual on Workplace with no change to current functionality or service levels.
Recommended Migration to Workvivo In the memo, Meta singles out Workvivo by Zoom as its “only preferred migration partner” for Workplace customers looking to move to an alternative platform.
Workvivo, which Zoom acquired in 2023, is a similar enterprise social network and communication tool. Its features like news feeds, groups, file sharing, and video calling map closely to Workplace’s capabilities.
Meta likely recommended Workvivo due to its comparable feature set making it a potential smooth transition for companies currently on Workplace. However, customers are free to evaluate other rivals like Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Workspace, and others.
Employee Impact Unclear It’s not yet known how many Meta employees will be impacted by Workplace’s shutdown. The platform had engineering teams based in London and potentially other hubs supporting it.
Some staff may be reassigned to Meta’s AI and metaverse initiatives. But broader layoffs or reorganization can’t be ruled out as Meta doubles down on these new strategic priorities.
The shutdown marks the end of an era, as Meta culls non-core projects and products. Workplace represented the company’s ambitions to be a workplace productivity player, but it ultimately failed to achieve escape velocity against entrenched, focused competitors in the enterprise space.
