立即打开
马克·扎克伯格将2023年定为Meta的“效率年”,这意味着再裁员10,000人,并冻结5,000个空缺职位的招聘

马克·扎克伯格将2023年定为Meta的“效率年”,这意味着再裁员10,000人,并冻结5,000个空缺职位的招聘

Tristan Bove 2023-03-16
虽然投资者对扎克伯格为开发元宇宙而花费数十亿美元不以为然,但他旨在提高公司效率和减少冗余的举措受到了好评。

Meta公司首席执行官马克·扎克伯格。图片来源:DAVID PAUL MORRIS—BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGES

马克·扎克伯格将2023年定为Meta的“效率年”。现实非常残酷,在去年11月裁掉约1.1万名员工后,“效率年”才刚刚开始,Meta就宣布了第二轮大规模裁员。为降低成本和精简流程,科技行业加大裁员力度,Facebook的首席执行官马克·扎克伯格于3月14日在一篇博文中宣布,Facebook的母公司将再次裁掉10,000名员工,并冻结5,000个空缺职位的招聘。

扎克伯格没有具体说明公司的哪些部门将成为裁员“重灾区”,尽管Meta的招聘团队是被缩减的部门之一,因为就公司未来发展而言,招聘速度放缓可能是永久性的。

第一轮裁员约有11,000多名员工受到影响,约占员工总数的13%。自从扎克伯格在今年2月与投资者举行的第四季度财报电话会议上公开表示,公司将竭尽全力精简部门,提高工作效率,几周来,员工们都已经为大规模裁员做好了准备。

这位首席执行官当时宣布,2023年将是公司的“效率年”,因为公司力争成为“更强大、更灵活的业界领头羊”。他补充说,虽然Meta将在包括人工智能在内的某些竞争领域加大投入,但不再关键的和表现不佳的项目已经被列入削减范围。对于2022年11月的裁员,扎克伯格表示,这是“我们关注效率的开始,而不是终结。”

对科技公司来说,动荡的经济环境对Meta等社交媒体平台来说尤其困难。除了Facebook, Meta还拥有Instagram和WhatsApp。自2022年以来,该公司的广告收入一直在放缓,投资者和Meta股东也愈发对扎克伯格押注元宇宙将该公司引向未知领域的决定感到不满,并提出了批评。该决定最早于2021年年底宣布。

与许多其他科技公司一样,Meta在新冠疫情爆发的最初几年疯狂扩张,并加大招聘力度,但由于美联储(Federal Reserve)从去年开始大举加息为经济降温,Meta被迫缩减规模。该公司在2022年9月的员工人数超过8.7万,较上年同期增长28%。

在宣布最新裁员的博文里,扎克伯格六次提及Meta的“效率年”。他将公司的人工智能愿景称为“我们最大的一项投资”,并表示公司的长期目标是将人工智能“融入我们的每一款产品中”。扎克伯格还表示,公司将在内部使用人工智能来提高效率,称其为Meta的“工具之一,将在未来多年内助力我们的员工更高效地完成工作”。他说,Meta正在计划使用人工智能来“帮助工程师更快地编写质量更高的代码,使我们能够随着时间的推移实现工作负载自动化,或者确定可以逐步淘汰的过时流程。”

但扎克伯格也指出,Meta可能已经永远摆脱了过去那种随心所欲的作风,专注于提高效率和削减成本。他警告说,由于目前的市场环境可能会持续到今年以后,该公司可能仍然难以在近期内保持盈利。

扎克伯格写道:“我们应该为这种新的经济现实将持续多年的可能性做好准备。”他补充说,长期的高利率、全球地缘政治不稳定以及对科技行业更严格的监管可能会导致公司增长放缓和成本上升。

对于科技公司,尤其是社交媒体平台而言,监管已经成为一个越来越棘手的问题。今年2月,推特(Twitter)被起诉了,提起上诉后最终把案件闹到美国最高法院(Supreme Court)。这一诉讼可能会削弱第230条款(Section 230)(《通信规范法》第230条规定,互联网平台无需为第三方使用者发布的相关内容负法律责任。——译注),网络公司长期以来一直依赖该条款来保护自己免受第三方使用者在其平台上发布的内容的影响。

科技公司在2021年遭受了打击,当时新任命的美国联邦贸易委员会(Federal Trade Commission)的主席莉娜·可汗明确表示,她的首要任务之一是限制大型科技公司,并表示这些公司已经扩张到垄断市场的地步。对美国国会来说,打击科技公司,让它们走上正轨,一直是出了名的困难,但对科技公司实施更严格的监管是为数不多的两党达成一致的领域之一。

扎克伯格写道:“鉴于这种前景,我们需要加大裁员力度,实现有效运营,以确保取得成功。”

虽然投资者对扎克伯格为开发元宇宙而花费数十亿美元不以为然,但他旨在提高公司效率和减少冗余的举措受到了好评。自今年年初以来,该公司的股价上涨了逾50%,比去年11月宣布第一轮裁员以来翻了一番多。(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

马克·扎克伯格将2023年定为Meta的“效率年”。现实非常残酷,在去年11月裁掉约1.1万名员工后,“效率年”才刚刚开始,Meta就宣布了第二轮大规模裁员。为降低成本和精简流程,科技行业加大裁员力度,Facebook的首席执行官马克·扎克伯格于3月14日在一篇博文中宣布,Facebook的母公司将再次裁掉10,000名员工,并冻结5,000个空缺职位的招聘。

扎克伯格没有具体说明公司的哪些部门将成为裁员“重灾区”,尽管Meta的招聘团队是被缩减的部门之一,因为就公司未来发展而言,招聘速度放缓可能是永久性的。

第一轮裁员约有11,000多名员工受到影响,约占员工总数的13%。自从扎克伯格在今年2月与投资者举行的第四季度财报电话会议上公开表示,公司将竭尽全力精简部门,提高工作效率,几周来,员工们都已经为大规模裁员做好了准备。

这位首席执行官当时宣布,2023年将是公司的“效率年”,因为公司力争成为“更强大、更灵活的业界领头羊”。他补充说,虽然Meta将在包括人工智能在内的某些竞争领域加大投入,但不再关键的和表现不佳的项目已经被列入削减范围。对于2022年11月的裁员,扎克伯格表示,这是“我们关注效率的开始,而不是终结。”

对科技公司来说,动荡的经济环境对Meta等社交媒体平台来说尤其困难。除了Facebook, Meta还拥有Instagram和WhatsApp。自2022年以来,该公司的广告收入一直在放缓,投资者和Meta股东也愈发对扎克伯格押注元宇宙将该公司引向未知领域的决定感到不满,并提出了批评。该决定最早于2021年年底宣布。

与许多其他科技公司一样,Meta在新冠疫情爆发的最初几年疯狂扩张,并加大招聘力度,但由于美联储(Federal Reserve)从去年开始大举加息为经济降温,Meta被迫缩减规模。该公司在2022年9月的员工人数超过8.7万,较上年同期增长28%。

在宣布最新裁员的博文里,扎克伯格六次提及Meta的“效率年”。他将公司的人工智能愿景称为“我们最大的一项投资”,并表示公司的长期目标是将人工智能“融入我们的每一款产品中”。扎克伯格还表示,公司将在内部使用人工智能来提高效率,称其为Meta的“工具之一,将在未来多年内助力我们的员工更高效地完成工作”。他说,Meta正在计划使用人工智能来“帮助工程师更快地编写质量更高的代码,使我们能够随着时间的推移实现工作负载自动化,或者确定可以逐步淘汰的过时流程。”

但扎克伯格也指出,Meta可能已经永远摆脱了过去那种随心所欲的作风,专注于提高效率和削减成本。他警告说,由于目前的市场环境可能会持续到今年以后,该公司可能仍然难以在近期内保持盈利。

扎克伯格写道:“我们应该为这种新的经济现实将持续多年的可能性做好准备。”他补充说,长期的高利率、全球地缘政治不稳定以及对科技行业更严格的监管可能会导致公司增长放缓和成本上升。

对于科技公司,尤其是社交媒体平台而言,监管已经成为一个越来越棘手的问题。今年2月,推特(Twitter)被起诉了,提起上诉后最终把案件闹到美国最高法院(Supreme Court)。这一诉讼可能会削弱第230条款(Section 230)(《通信规范法》第230条规定,互联网平台无需为第三方使用者发布的相关内容负法律责任。——译注),网络公司长期以来一直依赖该条款来保护自己免受第三方使用者在其平台上发布的内容的影响。

科技公司在2021年遭受了打击,当时新任命的美国联邦贸易委员会(Federal Trade Commission)的主席莉娜·可汗明确表示,她的首要任务之一是限制大型科技公司,并表示这些公司已经扩张到垄断市场的地步。对美国国会来说,打击科技公司,让它们走上正轨,一直是出了名的困难,但对科技公司实施更严格的监管是为数不多的两党达成一致的领域之一。

扎克伯格写道:“鉴于这种前景,我们需要加大裁员力度,实现有效运营,以确保取得成功。”

虽然投资者对扎克伯格为开发元宇宙而花费数十亿美元不以为然,但他旨在提高公司效率和减少冗余的举措受到了好评。自今年年初以来,该公司的股价上涨了逾50%,比去年11月宣布第一轮裁员以来翻了一番多。(财富中文网)

译者:中慧言-王芳

Meta’s brutal year of efficiency is only just getting started. After laying off around 11,000 employees in November, the company is resorting to even more firings and job cuts. The Facebook parent is terminating around 10,000 jobs and halting hiring for 5,000 open positions, CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced in a blog post on March 14, in the latest tech sector push to lower costs and streamline operations.

Zuckerberg did not specify what areas of the company would be most affected by job reductions, although Meta’s recruiting team is one of the departments getting downsized, as slower hiring rates are likely to be a permanent reality at the company moving forward.

The first round of Meta layoffs affected around 13% of overall staff, and employees have been bracing for more terminations for weeks ever since Zuckerberg made publicly clear that the company was going to double down on efficiency and become leaner in every department during its last quarterly earnings call with investors last month.

The CEO declared at the time 2023 was going to be the company’s “year of efficiency” as it aimed to become a “stronger and more nimble organization.” He added that while Meta would double down in certain competitive areas including artificial intelligence, unnecessary and underperforming projects were on the cutting board. Of the November layoffs, Zuckerberg said it was the “beginning of our focus on efficiency and not the end.”

A turbid economic climate for tech companies has been especially difficult for social media platforms like Meta, which in addition to Facebook also owns Instagram and Whatsapp. Advertising revenue at the company has been slowing since last year, while investors and Meta shareholders have also grown critical of Zuckerberg’s decision to steer the company into uncharted waters with his metaverse push, first announced in late 2021.

Like many other tech companies, Meta expanded wildly during the early years of the pandemic and hired aggressively, but has since been forced into downscaling as the Federal Reserve began raising interest rates to cool down the economy last year. The company had more than 87,000 employees in September, a 28% increase from the year before.

In his blog post announcing the latest layoffs, Zuckerberg mentioned Meta’s “year of efficiency” six times. He referred to the company’s A.I. vision as “our single largest investment” and stated that the company’s long-term goal is to build A.I. “into every one of our products.” Zuckerberg also said A.I. will be employed within the company to improve efficiency, calling it one of Meta’s “tools that will make us most effective over many years.” He said Meta is planning to use A.I. to “help engineers write better code faster, enabling us to automate workloads over time, or identifying obsolete processes that we can phase out.”

But Zuckerberg also suggested Meta may have permanently moved on from its freewheeling past to focus on efficiency and cost-cutting. He warned the company may still struggle to stay profitable in the immediate future as conditions in today’s market environment threaten to persist past this year.

“We should prepare ourselves for the possibility that this new economic reality will continue for many years,” Zuckerberg wrote, adding that a prolonged period of higher interest rates, global geopolitical instability, and stricter regulation of the tech sector could lead to slower growth and higher costs for the company.

Regulation has become an increasingly thorny issue for tech companies, and especially for social media platforms. Last month, Twitter found itself on the receiving end of a lawsuit that ended up in front of the Supreme Court. The suit threatens to weaken Section 230, which online companies have long relied on to protect themselves from content posted by third parties on their platforms.

Tech companies suffered a blow in 2021, when newly appointed Federal Trade Commission Chair Lina Khan made clear one of her priorities was to rein in Big Tech companies, saying they had expanded to the point of monopolizing the sector. Coming down on tech has been notoriously difficult for Congress to get right, but stricter regulations are one of the few areas with relative bipartisan agreement.

“Given this outlook, we’ll need to operate more efficiently than our previous headcount reduction to ensure success,” Zuckerberg wrote.

While investors have been tepid on the billions Zuckerberg has spent on developing the metaverse, his push for efficiency and fewer redundancies has been well-received. The company’s shares are up over 50% since the beginning of the year, and have more than doubled in value since last November when the first wave of layoffs was announced.

热读文章
热门视频
扫描二维码下载财富APP