Meta wants to oust workers who ‘shouldn’t be here’

Facebook parent company Meta wants to sever ties with workers who cannot meet new performance expectations as the company prepares for an economic downturn, CEO Mark Zuckerberg said bluntly this week.

Zuckerberg’s candid admission came during a Q&A session with employees in which he warned that a recent market meltdown « could be one of the worst downturns we’ve seen in the industry. » recent history ».

« In reality, there’s probably a bunch of people in the company who shouldn’t be here, » Zuckerberg said at the meeting, according to Reuters.

« Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide this place isn’t for you. , and that self-selection is OK with me,” Zuckerberg added.

Zuckerberg said Meta plans to slow its engineering hiring plans by at least 30% this year, adding about 6,000 or 7,000 workers instead of the 10,000 it initially planned to hire. Some currently vacant positions will remain vacant as Meta increases the pressure on current employees.

The Post has reached out to Meta for further comment on Zuckerberg’s remarks.

The company was rocked last month by the stunning resignation of COO Sheryl Sandberg, a longtime Zuckerman lieutenant and the mastermind behind Facebook’s meteoric growth through advertising revenue.

Meta confirmed it imposed a hiring freeze in May after the company grew just 7% to $27.9 billion in the first quarter. This marked its slowest growth rate since Facebook went public. Company representatives said no layoffs were planned

Zuckerberg previously played down high employee turnover at Meta during the company’s April earnings call.

« I don’t think this kind of volatility that companies face is ever so unhealthy to make sure you have the right people in companies, » Zuckerberg said at the time.

Meta stocks are down more than 50% so far this year as Zuckerberg tries to reinvent his social media giant as a metaverse company. As The Post previously reported, some Meta workers have complained that the company’s stock plunge is crushing the value of their stock options.

Meta’s struggles coincided with a broader slowdown in the tech sector. The Nasdaq fell into bearish territory and posted its worst first-half performance on record.

According to Reuters, Meta chief product officer Chris Cox highlighted the seriousness of the situation in a separate note to workers ahead of Zuckerberg’s remarks.

“I must point out that we are going through a difficult time here and the headwinds are fierce. We need to perform perfectly in a slower growth environment, where teams shouldn’t expect vast influxes of new engineers and budgets,” Cox wrote.