1 in 4 people are fired, Mark Zuckerberg insists ‘there is no other way’

“A challenging period” is the word that Mark Zuckerberg – CEO Meta described in an article to employees about the near future of this corporation. Notably, the article was posted after he announced that this once-heavy social media company would make another round of staff reductions, up to 10,000 people.

Before that, Zuckerberg was doing a full review of Meta’s business as he aimed to deliver on his promise of a “productive year”. He outlined key changes that could be rolled out across the entire organization. Most importantly, from a structural point of view, Zuckerberg says he wants to “flatten” the company “by removing the multi-layered management structure.”

“This is going to be difficult, but we have no choice,” Zuckerberg said in the statement, alluding to the pains and mixed emotions that will pervade the entire Meta as the workforce once more. much reduced.

The new job cuts at Meta come after they laid off about 11,000 employees in November – marking the first layoff in the company’s history. Along with the new layoffs, Meta will cut 24% of its workforce – that is, 1 in 4 people have been laid off within just half a year.

Of course, at the moment, Meta is suffering the most headwinds in Silicon Valley. The company has to cope with the digital advertising sector shrinking as the economy falters, Apple’s new privacy policy, the rapid rise of AI technology, and the relentless growth of TikTok.

However, the continuous dismissal announcements made Meta’s morale plummet. In the new statement, it at least puts a lot of pressure on employees who are already nervous before, and worries about whether they might be the next victim in the future.

However, Zuckerberg has stressed that drastic changes are needed to survive in what he describes as “a deteriorating economic situation that won’t improve anytime soon”.

“At this point, I think we should prepare for the real possibility that this new economy will continue for many years,” Zuckerberg bluntly warned, adding that the dim outlook required cutting back. further reduced “to operate more efficiently than before to ensure success”.

An unnamed former tech CEO said on Tuesday that companies like Meta, Google, Amazon and Twitter have been recruiting “wrongly large numbers of people” over the years to work on “scientific projects.” Especially when talking about Meta, this leader said: “You just wonder: what are these 100,000 people doing? The company’s apps haven’t changed much.”

“Such companies have become too profitable and CEOs think all the other areas they can expand to take over the world. And then the economy changed and people started to care about profits and growth.”

As a result, “surprisingly, it’s not that hard for these big tech companies to cut large numbers of people without affecting the underlying revenue engine.”

For now, employees at Meta will have to wait longer to see how they and their colleagues will be affected. Zuckerberg pointed out that the job cuts won’t be completed until the end of May.

“As for how we are going to operate during this period, I encourage everyone to focus on the things you can control. That is, do a good job and support colleagues. Our community is resilient very quickly,” Zuckerberg said.

“Change is never easy but I know we will get through it and become an even stronger company that can make better products faster and allows you to do better. the best work in my career”.

The biggest question ahead is whether Meta can overcome this pain to become a stronger company or will continue to see the decline. At this point, Meta’s products have all reached the point of saturation while Zuckerberg pursues the ambition of one day his big bet on the virtual universe will be realized.

“You can accept reduced profits in the short term, but you cannot block growth. At some point, Meta is like AOL – the famous internet service of the late 90s of the last century. But at the moment no one knows for sure when that will happen.”

Source: CNN

Phuong Linh