Meta implements hiring freeze, Zuckerberg warns of more downsizing ahead

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees on Thursday that the company is enacting a company-wide hiring freeze and warned them that more downsizing is likely coming.

First reported by Bloomberg’s Kurt Wagner and confirmed by sources to The Verge, the comments made during an internal all-hands call show how Meta is responding to a decline in its revenue brought on by the slowing global economy and Apple’s ad tracking changes. Meta’s stock price has fallen by more than half this year.

In May, Zuckerberg announced a hiring freeze affecting certain segments of Meta and said he couldn’t make promises about possible layoffs, but by the end of June, his tone had changed. In a Q&A session reported by The Verge, he said, “Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here… And part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might just say that this place isn’t for you. And that self-selection is okay with me.”

Asked about today’s meeting, Meta spokesperson Dave Arnold declined to comment but pointed toward comments from Zuckerberg during the last Meta earnings call, where he said, “Our plan is to steadily reduce headcount growth over the next year. Many teams are going to shrink so we can shift energy to other areas.”