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Meta Platforms Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg on 28 July said his firm planned for growth too optimistically and mistakenly expected a bump in usage and revenue growth during COVID-19 lockdowns would be sustained.
Responding to query by an employee about mistakes Zuckerberg had made at a company-wide meeting, the Meta chief said he had hired too aggressively and failed to account for the possibility of an economic downturn.
The recent comments by Zuckerberg were more pointed than those delivered during an investor call on Wednesday, as Meta recorded its first ever quarterly drop in revenue and forecast another fall to come in the third quarter.
Zuckerberg had said he believed the economy was entering a downturn that would have a 'broad impact' on the digital advertising business.
"It's always hard to predict how deep or how long these cycles will be, but I'd say that the situation seems worse than it did a quarter ago," he said. Zuckerberg added that his firm plans to steadily reduce headcount growth over the next year.
Responding to another question related to if senior managers at Meta had been 'coasting', Zuckerberg cited Meta's performance reviews generally. To which the employee -- who asked the question -- took to the comments section of an internal discussion board, writing that in his view Zuckerberg had not answered his question.
The following exchanges come as Zuckerberg is battling intensifying morale issues at Meta, and added pressure of economic woes and business challenges from Apple Inc and ByteDance's TikTok.
Earlier in June, Zuckerberg told employees he expected them to work with more "intensity," as he cut hiring targets and cranked up performance standards that were relaxed during the pandemic, reported Reuters.
Meta staffers saw their compensation effectively slashed this year as the stock price tumbled on news of stalling growth.
With Reuters inputs.