Meta staff 'demoralised' over Zuckerberg's ‘Year of Efficiency’ plans as layoffs continue

Mark Zuckerburg-led Meta which has touted its strategy for 2023 as an “year of efficiency” has reportedly left many employees “demoralised”, reported Financial Times. This comes after the tech giant had announced cost cuts and massive lay-offs. Managers at Meta have expressed growing frustration over the uncertainty that has permeated the firm’s Menlo Park, California, headquarters in recent weeks as senior management has delayed approval of necessary budgets — disrupting the normal workflow, according to the financial news site reported.

In November, last year, Meta laid off 11,000 employees, an estimated 13 percent of its global workforce, the largest in its 20-year history. “Honestly, it’s still a mess,” one Meta employee told Financial Times. “The year of efficiency is kicking off with a bunch of people getting paid to do nothing.” Staffers told FT that “zero work” is getting done and that decisions that normally took days to approve now took weeks or months.

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.

Meta's declining revenue as Tik Tok soars

This month, Meta posted a lower fourth-quarter profit and revenue hurt by a downturn in the online advertising market and competition from rivals such as TikTok. But the company’s stock soared in extended trading, as its revenue beat Wall Street’s muted expectations and the Menlo Park, California-based company announced a $40 billion stock buyback, reported AP. Meta’s stock fell by more than 70% last year as the company lost billions in its metaverse investment.

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.

Zuckerberg also cited the difficult macroeconomic environment that has also hamstrung other tech giants that laid off thousands, including Google, Amazon, Twitter, Microsoft, Salesforce, Spotify and others, reported NY post. 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 organization structure and removing some layers in middle management to make decisions faster,” Zuckerberg said.