Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg testifies before the House Financial Services Committee at the Rayburn House Office Building on Capitol Hill October 23, 2019 in Washington, DC. Zuckerberg testified about Facebook’s Libra cryptocurrency proposal, how his company will handle misinformation and misleading political leaders during the 2020 campaign, and how it handles data and user privacy.
Chip Somodevilla | Getty Images News | beautiful pictures
Parents Facebook Meta is slowing hiring as it claims the lowest revenue growth on record and ongoing business challenges, such as Apple changes in privacy and the war in Ukraine.
“We regularly reassess our human capital according to our business needs, and based on the cost guidance given for this earnings period, we are reducing our growth rate accordingly.” a Meta spokesperson told CNBC in an email Wednesday. “However, we will continue to grow our workforce to ensure we focus on the long-term impact.”
In its earnings report last week, Meta forecast Annual underlying revenue fell in the second quarter. Chief Financial Officer David Wehner emphasize Some of the problems the company faces, and said costs for the year will be between $87 billion and $92 billion, down from a previous forecast of $90 billion to $95 billion.
Meta intends to suspend or postpone hiring for most mid- and senior-level positions, after stopping adding senior engineers in recent weeks, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans. The person said employers have begun to pause their efforts to fill certain roles.
Insiders reported on the plans earlier, citing a memo from Wehner to employees.
The struggles began to surface last year when users abandoned Facebook’s apps. In February, Meta said Its daily active users fell continuously for the first time in Q4, although that number rose again in the first quarter of 2022.
However, the digital media business in general is suffering due to macroeconomic concerns and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“We experienced a slowdown in growth after the start of the Ukraine war due to a loss of revenue in Russia as well as a decrease in ad demand both in Europe and outside the region,” Wehner said. know during last week’s earnings press conference. “We believe the war has led to greater volatility into the already uncertain macroeconomic landscape for advertisers.”
Wehner reiterates to investors that the privacy changes Apple made its iOS device last year will hurt growth, after the company had predicted the move would slash revenue this year by $10 billion.
On Wednesday, the Federal Reserve lift up the benchmark interest rate cut by half a percentage point in an attempt to tackle 40-year high inflation. Markets edged higher as Fed Chairman Jerome Powell indicated that the central bank is unlikely to impose rate hikes larger than that in the future.
Facebook shares ended the day 5% higher, though still down 34% for the year.
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