Zuckerberg says Meta will slow down on recruitment soon

Meta, the company formerly known as Facebook, is already making plans to cope with a likely economic downturn in the near future.

One of the tech giant’s strategies is to reduce its number of hires. CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced a plan to cut back hires by about 30%; the number of engineers hired to reduce from 10k to 6-7k.

‘If I had to bet, I'd say that this might be one of the worst downturns that we've seen in recent history,’ Zuckerberg said in a weekly employee Q&A session.

The CEO also mentioned that the company would start to demand higher standards from its workers.

‘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,’ Zuckerberg said.

He even hinted at a mass layoff when he said, ‘Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn't be here.’

Zuckerberg had previously disclosed that the company’s pivot into metaverse tech would cost it financially. 

Meta has invested heavily in its Research and Development, specifically for its metaverse hardware division, which handles creating immersive hardware for improved alternate reality experience.

Recently, tech companies in the US have been battening down their hatches for a possible recession. 

Meta already lost half its market value this year and claimed daily active users on the Facebook app had experienced a quarterly decline for the first time.

Amidst everything, the company is still forging ahead with its metaverse ambitions. Recently, Meta launched a digital clothing boutique for its social media avatars to monetize digital goods.

Photo: Getty