Social networking giant Meta is furiously paddling against economic headwinds looming ahead. An internal memo from the company’s product head reveals that Meta is slowing down hiring and taking steps to stabilize the ship in treacherous waters.
Following up on its weak growth outlook from the previous quarter, Meta, the world’s largest social networking company, has alerted employees of “serious times†ahead. According to an internal memo from the chief product officer seen by Reuters, layoffs could also be on the cards at Meta, whose revenue growth has stalled since privacy changes in Apple’s iOS.
Meta chief product officer Chris Cox didn’t actually spell out layoffs to the dismay of Meta employees, but he did suggest “leaner†teams. “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.â€
“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.â€
Besides the drop in revenue growth caused by the privacy-focused App Tracking Transparency (ATT), Cox reiterated the negative effect of the current macroeconomic situation headed towards a recession. To add to the company’s woes, Google is also working on bringing Privacy Sandbox for AndroidOpens a new window , which could impact Facebook’s cash cow – its ad business even further.
Like ATT, Privacy Sandbox for Android can restrict Facebook’s ad-targeting capabilities. This is why Meta is aiming to monetize Reels as quickly as possible. Cox called Reels “a bright point in our last-half results,†where the time users spent more than doubled year over year. Cox also said the company will further monetize Shops Ads and Business Messaging.
Monetization is one of the six investment priorities Cox laid out in the memo, the others being Metaverse (experience building and user retention, Discovery Engine, Community Messaging (WhatsApp and Messenger-driven), AI for platform recommendations, research, augmented reality; and renewed privacy commitments under domestic and international laws.
Meta’s stock is trading 57.41% below its 52-week all-time high on June 30, 2022.
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