Meta Clamps Down as Zuckerberg Tells Team to do More With Less

meta, facebook, engineers, economy, hiring freeze

Meta told employees to brace for changing economic tides as it reduces hiring outlooks for engineers and leaves other positions unfilled, according to multiple media reports. 

In a weekly Q&A session obtained by Reuters, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said he’s expecting “one of the worst downturns that we’ve seen in recent history.” 

While Meta warned in May that it was planning to slow down or pause new hires for some mid-to senior-level positions, Zuckerberg said in his address that the company was reducing its hiring target for new engineers from 10,000 to roughly 6,000 to 7,000.

See also: Meta Vows ‘Leaner, Meaner’ Operation as Business Climate Chills

With over 77,800 employees as of the end of March, Meta said it’s also “turning up the heat” on performance management to get rid of staffers unable to meet goals, Reuters reported.

“Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here,” Zuckerberg said.

“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 said.

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Meta added more than 5,800 new hires in the first quarter, ​​with a mostly strong earnings report. But Russia’s war on Ukraine coupled with other dismal economic factors prompted Meta to rein in spending for the year as its revenue forecast weakened. 

The company must “prioritize more ruthlessly” and “operate leaner, meaner, better-executing teams,” Chief Product Officer Chris Cox wrote in the memo, which appeared on the company’s internal discussion forum Workplace before the Q&A, Reuters reported.

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“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, per Reuters.