Mark Zuckerberg Prepares Meta Staff for a Harder 2022

SAN FRANCISCO — Mark Zuckerberg has a message for Meta staff: Buckle up for robust occasions forward.

At an inside assembly on Thursday, Mr. Zuckerberg, the chief government of Meta, mentioned the Silicon Valley firm was dealing with one of many “worst downturns that we’ve seen in latest historical past,” in line with copies of his feedback that had been shared with The New York Occasions. He informed Meta’s 77,800 staff that they need to put together to do extra work with fewer assets and that their performances could be graded extra intensely than beforehand.

Mr. Zuckerberg added that the corporate — which owns Fb, Instagram and different apps — was decreasing its hiring targets. Meta now plans to carry on 6,000 to 7,000 new engineers this yr, down from a earlier purpose of round 10,000, he mentioned. In some areas, hiring will pause fully, particularly of junior engineers, although the pinnacle rely will improve in different elements of the enterprise, he mentioned.

“I feel a few of you may resolve that this place isn’t for you, and that self-selection is OK with me,” Mr. Zuckerberg mentioned on the decision. “Realistically, there are in all probability a bunch of individuals on the firm who shouldn’t be right here.”

The C.E.O.’s feedback, which had been among the most sharply worded ones he has made to staff, mirror the diploma of issue that Meta is dealing with with its enterprise. The corporate, which for years went from power to power financially, has been in an unfamiliar place this yr because it has struggled. Whereas it loved sturdy progress within the early elements of the pandemic, it has extra lately grappled with upheaval within the international economic system as inflation and rates of interest rise.

That financial uncertainty is hitting as Meta navigates tumult in its core social networking and promoting enterprise. Mr. Zuckerberg declared final yr that his firm, which was renamed Meta from Facebook, was making a long-term guess to construct the immersive world of the so-called metaverse. He has been spending billions of {dollars} on the hassle, which has dragged down Meta’s income.

The corporate can also be coping with a blow to its promoting enterprise after Apple made privacy changes to its cellular working system that restrict the quantity of information that Fb and Instagram can acquire on its customers.

Because of this, Meta has posted back-to-back revenue declines this yr, the primary time that has occurred in over a decade. In February, after a dismal financial report, Meta’s inventory plummeted 26 p.c and its market worth plunged greater than $230 billion in what was the corporate’s greatest one-day wipeout. In March, the corporate informed staff that it was cutting back or eliminating free services like laundry and dry cleansing.

In a memo to staff on Thursday, Chris Cox, Meta’s chief product officer, echoed Mr. Zuckerberg’s sentiments and mentioned the corporate was in “critical occasions” and that financial “headwinds are fierce,” in line with a duplicate of the memo that was learn to The Occasions.

“We have to execute flawlessly in an setting of slower progress, the place groups shouldn’t count on huge influxes of recent engineers and budgets,” Mr. Cox’s memo mentioned. “We should prioritize extra ruthlessly, be considerate about measuring and understanding what drives influence, put money into developer effectivity and velocity inside the corporate, and function leaner, meaner, higher executing groups.”

Mr. Zuckerberg’s and Mr. Cox’s feedback to staff had been reported earlier by Reuters. A Meta spokesman mentioned that Mr. Cox’s memo echoed what the corporate has mentioned publicly in earnings calls and that it was being frank about its “challenges” and “alternatives.”

Within the inside assembly on Thursday, which was held by way of videoconference, Mr. Zuckerberg’s feedback appeared to return out of a way of frustration, in line with one worker who watched the decision. After somebody requested whether or not the corporate would proceed having “Meta Days” in 2022, an inside identify for paid-time-off holidays, Mr. Zuckerberg paused and mulled aloud about tips on how to reply the query appropriately, mentioned the worker, who spoke anonymously as a result of they weren’t approved to talk.

The C.E.O. then mentioned the corporate wanted to crack down and work tougher than it had earlier than, “turning up the warmth” on inside targets and metrics used to fee staff’ efficiency. He mentioned he anticipated a point of turnover from staff who weren’t assembly these targets and that some may depart on account of the intensified tempo.

However Mr. Zuckerberg famous that he was not averse to spending closely on initiatives that matter for the long run and was not centered solely on income. He cited the efforts on constructing the metaverse with digital and augmented actuality merchandise over the subsequent 10-plus years.

Mr. Cox in his memo additionally mentioned that Meta was persevering with to give attention to investing in Reels — the TikTok-like video product featured closely in Instagram — in addition to bettering synthetic intelligence to assist drive the invention of fashionable posts throughout Fb and Instagram. Meta can also be engaged on creating wealth from its messaging apps and trying to extra alternatives in e-commerce gross sales throughout the platform, he mentioned.

Inside recruiters at Meta mentioned that after a surge of recent hires in the course of the pandemic, the corporate’s recruiting slowed this yr. The corporate was largely hiring for very important positions, and plenty of roles had been being crammed internally, mentioned two recruiters who spoke on situation of anonymity as a result of they weren’t approved to talk to reporters.

There aren’t any present plans to put folks off, two folks with information of the corporate’s plans mentioned, who spoke anonymously as a result of they weren’t approved to talk. In chat room channels that accompanied the reside broadcast of the worker assembly, some staff mentioned they had been celebrating slicing the “useless weight” after feeling that the “bar was lowered” for hiring over the course of the pandemic, in line with feedback that had been described to The Occasions by one of many staff.