Facebook’s Meta has been on a roller coaster lately, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg declaring a “year of efficiency,” laying off thousands of employees, and cutting perks. Some of those actions have been reflected in the company’s strong stock performance, increasing Zuckerberg’s net worth by $46.6 billion to $92.3 billion this year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Despite the gains, Meta employees’ mandate is to be “scruffy.”
“Obviously, going through restructurings, layoffs and changes like this is very difficult,” Zuckerberg told employees on a company-wide call Thursday. Washington Post. “So it’s not like we’re going to end up exactly where we were before because that wasn’t my goal. I wanted to get to a place that’s a bit more crunchy.”
Since last year, Meta has carried out two rounds of job cuts: 11,000 in November and another 10,000 announced in March. All of these firings fall within Zuckerberg’s broader restructuring for greater efficiency.
He told employees that one of his goals is to be “a stronger technology company that can build better products faster,” the post mentioned. Another reason is Meta’s improved financial performance for long-term project financing in a challenging economic environment.
During the pandemic, the company has been on a hiring drive, doubling its workforce since 2020. But this backfired as employees found themselves “packed” like Pokemon Cards and lacking any real work to do.
Zuckerberg’s announcement of a “year of efficiency,” as well as strong first-quarter earnings added investor optimism and helped send the company’s shares up 23% that day. Meanwhile, Meta’s investments in artificial intelligence and the virtual world of Metaverse are still afoot, according to Bloomberg. Last week, the company unveiled its computer chips that can power AI infrastructure and video processing.
Meta’s goal of being “tacky” borrows a term often used to describe startups that are strapped for cash and resources, and therefore should make the most of what’s available. Zuckerberg reportedly said he wanted Meta to be less bureaucratic so that work could be done faster even with fewer workers.
“It just forces us to find ways to be more efficient and get things done more efficiently,” Zuckerberg said, according to the post. “It means there will be fewer environments or projects where there are too many chefs in the kitchen, which is just the kind of common complaint I hear over and over across the entire company.”
In an earnings call earlier this year, Zuckerberg hinted at cutting back layers of management to make the organization leaner and day-to-day operations more efficient.
He didn’t come back dead right away luckComment request.
