Meta to Slow Hiring in 2022, Hints at Layoffs After Metaverse Pivot

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is preparing to face a strong market downturn. According to reports, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has announced a change in the company’s hiring policy, lowering the number of engineers it plans to hire from 10,000 to 6-7,000. Previously, Zuckerberg had warned that the company’s Metaverse pivot could result in losses in the near future.

Meta braces for a difficult future

Meta, a social media and technology company with a focus on metaverse tech, has announced a series of actions to combat future market downturns.18} According to a reportby Mark Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Meta, the current economic conditions said that the company’s hiring plans for this year will change.

Zuckerberg said Meta will hire 6,000 to 7,000 engineers this year, down from 10,000 previously planned. This means that the company will essentially be cutting 30% to 40% of its jobs. Zuckerberg also declared that the company would change its view of worker performance, suggesting higher standards in this area.

On this, Zuckerberg stated.

One of my hopes is that by raising expectations, having more aggressive goals, and turning up the heat a little bit, some of you may decide that this is not the place for you.

Zuckerberg also suggested that Meta would be implementing layoffs, declaring.

Realistically, there are probably a lot of people in the company who shouldn’t be here.

Metaverse losses

Zuckerberg previously recognized that the company’s current focus on Metaverse would result in losses for the foreseeable future. Meta has significantly increased the amount of funds allocated to R&D for the Metaverse Hardware division. The Metaverse Hardware division, which is charged with creating more immersive hardware so that people can better experience alternate realities, has significantly increased the amount of funds devoted to R&D.

Still, Zuckerberg strongly believes in the Metaverse and what it can bring to the company in the future. He has previously stated that he believes the Metaverse can attract billions of people to Meta’s platform and that the monetization service will scale then. Although monetization is still a work in progress in the metaverse the company has prepared, Meta recently launched a digital clothing boutique for avatars on social media to monetize digital goods.

Image Credits: Shutterstock, Pixabay, Wiki Commons, Frederic Legrand – COMEO, Shutterstock.com.