US Reporter

Meta’s earnings down 4% YoY in Q4 2022, cites several factors for slowdown

Lynda Gomez Lynda Gomez on March 17, 2023

Meta, the parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, has announced plans to cut 10,000 jobs in a second wave of layoffs. The decision comes after the tech giant laid off 11,000 employees in November 2022. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the cuts a “year of efficiency” and admitted they would be “tough.”

Zuckerberg sent a memo to employees, explaining that the company received a “humiliating wake-up call” as sales plummeted in 2022. 

While the firm still achieved a profit of nearly $23 billion for the whole year, Meta’s earnings in the last three months of 2022 were down 4% year over year. Zuckerberg listed a number of causes for the slowdown, including rising US interest rates, instability in world geopolitics, and more regulations.

In addition, Zuckerberg warned his staff to be ready for the potential that this new economic reality would last for many years. It appears that the unstable economy has had an effect on more than just Meta, a tech business.

Google’s parent company, Alphabet, has cut 12,000 jobs, and Amazon has announced plans to cut more than 18,000 jobs due to rapid hiring due to the pandemic. 

Almost 128,000 jobs have already been lost in the tech industry in 2023, according to layoffs.fyi, a website that tracks employment losses in the sector. This astounding figure shows that the tech sector is not exempt from the economic slowdown that has affected other sectors.

Slashing Jobs

The decision to cut jobs is always a difficult one, but it appears to be necessary for Meta to remain competitive and viable in the long term. As Zuckerberg said, it is a “year of efficiency,” and the company must make tough decisions to ensure its survival.

Meta is set to announce further restructuring and layoffs in the coming months. CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a memo to staff that the recruitment team would be the first to find out whether they were affected by the cuts, with other teams to follow in late April and May.

It’s no secret that tech companies are tightening their belts due to falling ad revenues and a user base with less money to spend. Meta is no exception, as the company makes most of its money from advertising. The pandemic has made a perfect storm for the industry, as companies cut back on their advertising budgets while users have less disposable income to spend.

Interestingly, Meta is targeting its recruitment team in the latest round of cuts. Silicon Valley companies have a reputation for over-recruiting, but this is a luxury they can no longer afford. Companies hire extra staff to handle sudden growth or to retain top talent that they don’t want working for their rivals. 

However, with the current economic climate, over-recruiting is no longer sustainable.

Meta’s situation is further complicated by Mark Zuckerberg’s ambitious plan for the metaverse. The metaverse is an immersive, shared virtual space that is seen as the next big thing in tech. Zuckerberg has invested over $15 billion in the project so far, but there is no guarantee that it will be a success. If the metaverse fails, it could be a significant blow to Meta’s financials.

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Zuckerberg and Meta

Meta’s announcement of further restructuring and layoffs is not surprising given the current economic climate. Tech companies are facing a tough time, and they must make tough decisions to remain competitive. Meta’s focus on its recruitment team is an indication that the days of over-recruiting are over. 

The company’s gamble on the metaverse is a risky move, but it could pay off if it’s successful. Only time will tell whether Meta’s strategy will be a success, but for now, the company must navigate the uncertain economic landscape to remain viable.

Zuckerberg has announced plans to make the company “flatter” and remove multiple layers of management as part of a restructuring process that will involve laying off 10,000 employees and leaving 5,000 vacancies unfilled. This marks the second wave of mass layoffs from the tech behemoth, which cut jobs of 11,000 employees in November 2022.

Zuckerberg said the cuts are part of a “year of efficiency” after the company experienced a dramatic slowdown in revenue in 2022. In a memo to staff, he cited higher interest rates in the US, global geopolitical instability, and increased regulation as some of the factors contributing to the slowdown.

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Restructuring the Management

In addition to the job cuts, Zuckerberg also stated that there would be no new hires until the restructuring was complete, and that he wanted to make the company flatter by removing multiple layers of management. 

In addition, he allocated a portion of his message to discuss the concept of hybrid work, indicating that software engineers who commenced work with Meta in person performed more effectively compared to those who joined the company remotely.

The move by Meta follows similar cost-cutting measures by other tech giants such as Amazon and Google’s parent company Alphabet, who have announced plans to close thousands of jobs due to the unpredictable economy and rapid hiring during the pandemic.

It’s worth noting that many Silicon Valley firms tend to over-recruit to handle sudden growth and to retain top tech talent. However, with the current economic climate, these luxuries are no longer affordable, and companies are now looking to streamline their operations to remain competitive.

Meta’s CEO has also highlighted the potential impact of hybrid work on productivity, with engineers performing better in person. This suggests that hybrid work may come under scrutiny during the current “year of efficiency”, and employees may be encouraged to find more opportunities to work with their colleagues in person.

Photo: The CEO Magazine

Meta Sees Potential for Public Figures and Creators to Share Updates on New Standalone Social Network App

Veronica Thompson Veronica Thompson on March 12, 2023

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is reportedly developing a standalone, text-based social networking app.

The new app could compete head-on with Twitter and other decentralized competitors like Mastodon, offering a much-needed alternative for public figures and creators to share updates of interest. There is nature. 

According to Meta representatives, the company sees potential in establishing its own platform for celebrities and creators to share their current interests in real time. 

Users would be able to contact one another directly through the app because it would be decentralized, or not be under the jurisdiction of a single organization.

A decentralized social network is very different from the centralized social network that Meta currently operates. It allows users to communicate and share information without being subject to the same level of surveillance and data collection as platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.  

Additionally, it can provide a more secure platform for users concerned about privacy and data breaches.  

The action is being taken while Twitter deals with major difficulties. Since Elon Musk acquired control of the business in late 2021, the platform has struggled to maintain its advertising base.

Following Twitter’s decision to reactivate suspended accounts and launch a paid account verification service, businesses are cutting back on spending on the platform, prompting scammers to pose as legitimate businesses. 

This represents an opportunity for Meta to capitalize on the current Twitter chaos to establish itself as a competitor in the social media market.  

Social Media Space

While details about the new app are still scarce, it is clear that Meta is taking steps to diversify its portfolio and explore new opportunities in the social media space. With the rise of decentralized social networks and the increasing demand for privacy and security, Meta’s new app could prove to be a game-changer in the industry.

However, it remains to be seen whether Meta can overcome the challenges of developing a successful decentralized social network. Mastodon, for example, has struggled to gain widespread adoption despite its decentralized model. 

Nevertheless, with its vast resources and experience in the social media space, Meta may have a better chance of succeeding where others have failed.

Users would be able to access the app by using their current Instagram login credentials, and it would be constructed using a comparable infrastructure to Mastodon, a service similar to Twitter that was established in 2016.

Unlike traditional social media platforms, the new app would be decentralized, meaning that it could not be controlled by a single entity and could not be bought or sold. 

This approach would allow users to communicate and share information without being subject to the same level of surveillance and data collection that is typical of centralized platforms such as Facebook and Instagram.

Meta’s plans for the new app come at a time when Facebook, its largest platform, is struggling to attract younger users. The company has also invested heavily in the metaverse, a virtual world where consumers can interact and work, but which has yet to materialize fully. 

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Decentralized Social Networks

Meanwhile, its video-sharing app, Instagram, is facing tough competition from TikTok as content creators and influencers switch to the popular short-form video platform.

It remains to be seen when Meta will roll out the new app, and how successful it will be in attracting users. While decentralized social networks have gained popularity among privacy-conscious users, they have yet to gain mainstream adoption. 

However, with its vast resources and experience in the social media space, Meta may have a better chance of succeeding where others have failed.

The move to develop a decentralized social networking app is also in line with Meta’s stated vision of building a more open and interconnected internet. By embracing decentralization, the company is taking a step towards creating a more democratic and user-centric internet, where users have greater control over their data and privacy.

Meta’s plans to develop a new decentralized social networking app codenamed P92 is a significant development in the industry. It remains to be seen whether the app will be successful in attracting users, but it is a step towards creating a more democratic and user-centric internet. 

As the battle for the attention of younger users intensifies and concerns over data privacy and surveillance grow, decentralized social networks may become an increasingly important part of the social media landscape.

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Meta

Meta, formerly known as Facebook, is a social media conglomerate that has grown to become one of the most powerful companies in the world. Founded by Mark Zuckerberg in 2004, the company began as a platform for college students to connect with each other online. 

Over the years, Facebook has evolved into a global network with over 2.9 billion active users across its various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Messenger.

In 2021, Facebook changed its name to Meta in a move that reflected the company’s expanding ambitions beyond social media. The new name is meant to signal the company’s focus on the metaverse, a term used to describe the virtual space where users can socialize with each other and with digital objects in a three-dimensional environment. 

Meta envisions the metaverse as the next evolution of the internet, a space where users can work, play, and socialize in a more immersive and interactive way.

The metaverse is still in its early stages of development, but Meta has already made significant investments in the technology. 

In October 2021, the company announced the formation of a new Metaverse Product Group, which is tasked with developing new products and experiences for the metaverse. The group is led by Facebook veteran Andrew Bosworth, who has been with the company since 2006.

Photo: Assets