“I guess how people would assess whether you trust me and whether you want to work at this company determines whether we are successful in making progress toward the overall stated goals,” Zuckerberg said at the town hall. “I think a lot of it depends on what results we’re able to get.”
Zuckerberg also explained during the hour-long meeting why the company announced an organization-wide restructuring and layoff plan four months after the CEO told staff members during a company-wide meeting that he didn’t anticipate having to make those kinds of cuts for the “predictable.” coming.”
The CEO said what has finally changed is that he thinks the overall economic pressures the company will face will last for some time and he saw that the November cuts seemed to improve the efficiency of the business.
“But I think it’s a good question,” he said.
Meta declined to comment.
Zuckerberg’s comments come two days after announcing that the company would lay off more workers and close 5,000 job vacancies over the next few months as part of a broader effort to cut costs and flatten the hierarchy. company in the face of growing commercial pressures. The latest layoffs build on the November workforce reductions that cut 11,000 jobs, or about 13% of Meta’s workforce, in the first widespread layoffs in the company’s history.
Zuckerberg proclaimed earlier this year that 2023 would be “the year of efficiency” after months of declining revenues. The social media giant, which makes most of its money from digital advertising, faces increasing competition for advertising dollars and users from new entrants to the social media market such as the short-form video network TikTok. The company also acknowledged that it overestimated e-commerce market growth after pandemic-era restrictions were rolled back.
During the town hall on Thursday, Zuckerberg was also asked about the future prospects of remote working.
The company noted on Tuesday that early analysis showed that engineers who joined the company as an in-person employee and then transferred to a remote role or remained in the office performed better on average than engineers. people who have joined the company remotely.
Zuckerberg didn’t rule out creating new rules to force people back into the office for a while, but said it would be an “ongoing conversation.”
He added that the company has made the decision to suspend most remote hiring for the time being.
Another question from employees concerned how they could be productive as the threat of layoffs and project cuts loomed over their heads.
Zuckerberg acknowledged that announcing layoff plans in advance creates a period of uncertainty, but “it’s not like we can just stop working while we think about this.”
Ultimately, he said, he thought it best for employees to be told about the plans ahead of time.