Expecting a recession, Meta Platforms Inc. has decided to hire lesser number of engineers than it had initially planned.
Instead of 10,000 new engineers that Meta was planning to hire, it will now hire only about 6,000, that is, 30 per cent less.
Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Meta, reportedly told employees that the recession is expected to be one of the worst ever, and therefore, the Company is reworking its hiring goals. The economic downturn has also affected its ads business.
The Company had already revealed its intention to pause hiring for certain roles in May.
Given the fact that the Ukraine war has adversely affected sales, some roles will remain vacant while Meta focusses on removing non-performers. In fact, it is reported that Zuckerberg indicated that many of the staff members did not deserve to be in the Company, given their poor performance. Meta will also be taking measures to control expenditure.
Having recruited over 5,800 people in quarter 1, hiring has contributed the most to expenditure, and therefore, Meta is trying to rein in the spend by decreasing hiring goals. It has been clearly conveyed to the employees that growth is expected to be slow, and therefore, in preparation the organisation hopes to become more lean and may be a little ruthless if required, in the face of such a serious situation and tight budget.