Meta Platforms (Nasdaq: META) is slashing down 30% of its hiring plans this year, according to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, as he expects an imminent economic downturn.
“If I had to bet, I’d say that this might be one of the worst downturns that we’ve seen in recent history,” Zuckerberg told Meta employees in a weekly Q&A, of which Reuters got ahold of an audio copy.
From the original plan to hire 10,000 new engineers in 2022, the tech giant now looks to scale that down to 6,000 – 7,000 new employees.
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In addition, Zuckerberg hinted at a tighter employee performance management evaluation, possibly leading to layoffs of “a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.”
“Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me,” he added.
Chief Product Officer Chris Cox echoed the sentiment on having “leaner, meaner, better executing teams,” as the company works on developing products within the highly competitive space.
“I have to underscore that we are in serious times here and the headwinds are fierce. We need to execute flawlessly in an environment of slower growth, where teams should not expect vast influxes of new engineers and budgets,” Cox wrote in an internal memo.
Cox outlined in the memo the six investment priorities for the company for the rest of the year: metaverse (Avatars and Horizon Worlds + Platforms), Reels + Discovery engine, community messaging (WhatsApp and Messenger), artificial intelligence, privacy, and monetization.
“[These] are the places where we see the biggest gaps between what we have today and what we need to fulfill the roadmaps ahead,” Cox wrote.
The tech giant recently made its rebrand complete by changing its ticker symbol on the Nasdaq to META.
Meta Platforms last traded at US$161.25 on the Nasdaq.
Information for this briefing was found via Reuters and the companies mentioned. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.
