[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Hyunjung] Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, warned employees about a severe economic recession and announced that the company will reduce engineer hiring by at least 30% this year.
According to major foreign media on the 1st (local time), Zuckerberg said during the weekly employee Q&A session that "the worst economic recession in history could come." He explained that the hiring target for engineers this year has been reduced to 6,000?7,000. Meta announced a temporary hiring freeze last month but had not provided specific details until now.
In addition to reducing hiring, Zuckerberg elaborated that the company is actively managing performance to leave certain positions vacant and to lay off employees who struggle to meet aggressive goals as part of responding to workforce reductions. He emphasized, "Realistically, there are many people in the company who 'should not be here.'
Chris Cox, Chief Product Officer (CPO), stated in an internal memo, "We are facing a serious situation, and the headwinds are strong," adding, "Teams must execute perfectly even in an environment where they cannot expect new engineers or massive budget investments." Cox encouraged increasing work efficiency by saying, "We need to operate teams that prioritize more ruthlessly and execute better."
Meta’s focus areas for the second half of the year include the metaverse, artificial intelligence (AI), messaging, Reels, and privacy. He particularly emphasized the need to monetize the company’s short-form video service, 'Reels,' as quickly as possible.
Meanwhile, Meta, the world’s largest social media company, revealed that the daily active users of its flagship app Facebook declined for the first time quarter-over-quarter, causing the company’s market value to be halved. Meta’s revenue in the first quarter increased by only 6.6% year-over-year, marking the lowest revenue growth rate in 10 years since its 2012 IPO.
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