Mark Zuckerberg tells Meta workers that he will freeze hiring and warns company will ‘steadily reduce headcount growth’ during the next year

• Facebook and Instagram owner Meta announced a freeze on hiring new staff
• Mark Zuckerberg said it would ‘restructure’ after 60 per cent decline in past year
• Company is aiming to cut costs by 10% due to its advertising business struggling
• Zuckerberg’s personal fortune has nosedived to £44billion, a third of last year 

Facebook owner Meta has announced a freeze on hiring new staff amid plans to cut costs by at least 10 per cent in the coming months.

Mark Zuckerberg, who founded the social media giant, said the group would ‘further restructure’ due to its struggling advertising business. 

Meta, which also owns WhatsApp and Instagram, has lost nearly 60 per cent of its value in the past year.

Mr Zuckerberg’s personal fortune has nosedived to £44billion – just a third of what it was a year ago

Mr Zuckerberg’s personal fortune has nosedived to £44billion – just a third of what it was a year ago. 

He said Meta will ‘steadily reduce headcount growth’ over the next year. Plans to hire engineers are facing cuts of 30 per cent. 

The announcement comes as Meta makes a risky gamble on the ‘Metaverse’ – or virtual realm – which it predicts will drive billions of pounds in revenue.

Facebook owner Meta has announced a freeze on hiring new staff amid plans to cut costs by at least 10 per cent in the coming months

But in the short term the company is struggling amid a global downturn and an increasingly likely recession. 

And many analysts remain deeply sceptical about the point of Metaverse itself. 

Mr Zuckerberg told a company-wide staff meeting: ‘I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilised by now, but from what we’re seeing it doesn’t yet seem like it has – so we want to plan somewhat conservatively.

Other tech giants have also scaled back their operations as Silicon Valley grapples with the prospect of a recession

‘Our plan is to steadily reduce headcount growth over the next year. Many teams are going to shrink so we can shift energy to other areas.’ 

Other tech giants have also scaled back their operations as Silicon Valley grapples with the prospect of a recession. 

Last month Google announced that it would freeze hiring and cut back on perks.

Apple and Microsoft have also announced hiring freezes.

Source: Read Full Article