Meta Platforms has reported its first quarterly sales drop, and Facebook and Google are slowing the pace of hiring for jobs in the metaverse.
Overall, job postings including “metaverse” in the title were down more than 80% between April and June, Bloomberg reported Friday (July 29), citing workplace researcher Revelio Labs. That’s an about-face from the spike in interest after Facebook rebranded to Meta in the fall.
The tech sector is feeling the pinch as a whole from economic pressure and a presumed recession with layoffs and hiring freezes. Job postings in San Francisco and Austin, Texas, were down 8.4% in the past four weeks, according to the report, which cited Indeed.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said on Meta’s earnings call Wednesday (July 27) that he’s “slowing the pace” of long-term investments and scaling back hiring plans as its revenue has dropped, the report stated.
Apple, meanwhile, said Thursday (July 28) that it would be “more deliberate” in its recruiting efforts, while Google parent Alphabet has also slowed down its hiring as it continues to move quickly to capitalize on the growth in popularity of augmented reality, according to the report.
The hiring freeze and layoffs of full-time employees hasn’t stopped tech companies from adding freelancers well-schooled in avatar development and 3D design, which has more than quadrupled, the report stated, citing Fiverr.
“We seem to have entered an economic downturn that will have a broad impact on the digital advertising business,” Zuckerberg told analysts on the earnings call. “It’s always hard to predict how deep or how long these cycles will be, but I’d say that the situation seems worse than it did a quarter ago.”
Read more: Virtual Reality Hits Economic Reality as Meta Posts First-Ever Sales Decline
The Federal Reserve Wednesday approved its fourth rate hike this year as the central bank wrestles with its own economic challenges in the form of rampant inflation.
See more: Inflation, Consumer Spending Dominate Earnings, Fed’s Focus
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