Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s “year of efficiency” has reportedly gotten off to a rocky start as staffers at Facebook’s parent company say that plans to cut costs and lay off more workers has left teams “demoralized.”
Managers at Meta have expressed growing frustration over the uncertainty that has permeated the firm’s Menlo Park, Calif. headquarters in recent weeks as senior management has delayed approval of necessary budgets — disrupting the normal workflow, according to FT.
“Honestly, it’s still a mess,” one Meta employee told the news site Financial Times over the weekend. “The year of efficiency is kicking off with a bunch of people getting paid to do nothing.”
Zuckerberg’s recent declaration that Meta would shift to becoming a leaner company with a reduced headcount won plaudits from investors on Wall Street last week, but within the ranks of his company there is widespread confusion and anger, the FT reported.
Staffers told FT that “zero work” is getting done and that decisions that normally took days to approve now take weeks or months, including in some of the company’s key sectors such as the metaverse and advertising.
The Post has sought comment from Meta.
In November, Meta shed around 13% of its global workforce of around 87,000 employees — giving pink slips to more than 11,000 workers.
The company, whose digital properties include Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, had been reeling from declining revenue, losses in its fledgling metaverse department, and increased competition from social media upstart TikTok, which has siphoned off Gen Z users.
Meta’s stock fell by more than 70% last year as the company lost billions in its metaverse investment.
Zuckerberg also cited the difficult macroeconomic environment that has also hamstrung other tech giants who laid off thousands, including Google, Amazon, Twitter, Microsoft, Salesforce, Spotify, and others.
The CEO told analysts on an earnings call last week that more belt-tightening was in the offing at Meta.
“Next, we’re working on flattening our org structure and removing some layers in middle management to make decisions faster,” Zuckerberg said.
The boss added that Meta would be “more proactive” about jettisoning lower-performing projects.
Zuckerberg also handed down an edict to the company’s middle managers demanding that they spend less time managing other employees and more time being productive — or find work elsewhere.
The process known as “flattening” involves removing layers within a company hierarchy in order to expedite decision-making and enhance efficiency.
