>Among some Meta employees, the process of reapplying for jobs within a limited window internally is known as a sort of human-resources purgatory they call the “30 Day List.”

I mean from the article it’s pretty clear giving employees a month to find a new job internally is more like Hunger Games than some guarantee you will be successful. It sounds like a way for companies to not have to admit they are doing layoffs.

Especially as it's not obvious how much headcount the other teams have.

i.e. giving not-cut (the profitable/successful) teams a 1% headcount increase and cutting 10% of total staff is roughly equivalent to a 9% layoff.

Other teams may be able to add headcount, but my experience with big companies is that the organization wants to manage the number of tenured people, and people who are now sitting in non-terminal levels. Given how many people externally are competing for spots there is less of an incentive to prioritize internal people. I don't necessarily agree with this, but you have to be aware of all the stakeholders perspectives.

Based on my experience at FB, they way prefer to get internal transfers as they require less ramping up time. It's often not worth changing orgs though, as your equity doesn't get reset so you may end up with much less than a new hire