Mark Zuckerberg Announces Thousand Meta Employees Layoff, Want To Focus On Artificial Intelligence?

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced employee efficiency. (Photo; Doc. Generation NT)

JAKARTA - In a technology industry that continues to grow rapidly, social media companies are working hard to maintain their position in an increasingly fierce market competition. Meta, the parent company of platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Whatsapp, announced a number of new measures as part of their "efficiency year" policy.

In a post on Facebook, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced the new layoffs of 10,000 employees to be made over the remainder of 2023. Additionally, he also said that 5,000 vacant recruiting positions would be closed.

Zuckerberg explained that the layoffs were a consequence of the new economic configuration currently being faced by the United States and the world.

"Rising interest rates are causing the economy to run tighter, geopolitical instability is causing more volatility, and increasing regulation is causing slower growth and increasing the cost of innovation. Given these prospects, we need to operate more efficiently from previous job cuts to ensure success," Zuckerberg said.

However, Zuckerberg confirmed that the company is working on a plan to continue to invest in future developments while maintaining the company's sustainability in the short term.

These job cuts have been anticipated since February, with reports hinting at the implementation of a new round of job cuts due to delays in finalizing the internal budget. Meta had laid off 13 percent of its staff in November last year, announcing a change in culture at the company and citing macroeconomic conditions as the cause of the move.

Interested to Artificial Intelligence

Although Zuckerberg referred to the metaverse as part of the company's key technologies in a blog post, stating that the metaverse serves "to provide a realistic sense of existence" and that the metaverse "remains central in defining the future of social connection," he revealed that Meta is currently also allocating funding for other emerging fields.

As part of explaining how the company runs business internally, Zuckerberg commented: "Our biggest investment is in advancing artificial intelligence and building it into each of our products. We have the infrastructure to do it on an unprecedented scale and I think the experience that's generated would be great."