In a weekly worker Q&A session, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly mentioned the company is experiencing “one of the worst downturns [it has seen] in recent history.” According to Reuters, the chief has revealed that Meta has slashed its goal quantity for brand spanking new engineers hires this 12 months by about 30 %. Meta beforehand mentioned that it is slowing its hiring plans because of weak income forecasts, however now Zuckerberg has introduced extra particulars with actual figures. Apparently, from plans to rent 10,000 new engineers this 12 months, Meta will solely rent between 6,000 and seven,000.

Further, the CEO mentioned that Meta is elevating expectations on present staff and giving them extra aggressive objectives in order that they’ll resolve on their very own if the corporate is not for them. “[S]elf-selection is OK with me,” he mentioned. In a memo to staff, chief product officer Chris Cox has confused that the corporate “is in serious times here and the headwinds are fierce.” He additionally listed the corporate’s six funding priorities for the second half of the 12 months, beginning with its metaverse initiatives Avatars and its digital world Horizon Worlds. 

According to the memo, revealed in full by The Verge, Meta can be aiming to monetize Reels as shortly as attainable. Time spent on Reels has greater than doubled world wide since final 12 months, the memo reads, with 80 % of that progress coming from Facebook. Cox referred to as Reels, its short-form video format created as a solution to TikTok, a “bright point” for the corporate within the first half of 2022. Meta plans to proceed enhancing the expertise, together with making adjustments to the house display on Instagram and Facebook to include the movies extra natively.

In addition, Meta plans to concentrate on its AI initiatives, in addition to on WhatsApp and Messenger within the second half of the 12 months. It plans to check WhatApp communities earlier than the characteristic launches world wide by the tip of 2022. The firm can be going to develop Instagram Creator channels and joinable chats, that are slated for rollout within the coming months.

Cox wrote within the memo:

“I have to underscore that we are in serious times here and the headwinds are fierce. We need to execute flawlessly in an environment of slower growth, where teams should not expect vast influxes of new engineers and budgets. We must prioritize more ruthlessly, be thoughtful about measuring and understanding what drives impact, invest in developer efficiency and velocity inside the company, and operate leaner, meaner, better exciting teams.”