After two series of layoffs four months apart, tech giant Meta and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg had to clean up the plaster during an all-staff meeting on Thursday, March 16. His employees expressed in particular their lack of trust in the manager and their difficulty in being productive for fear of being fired.
Mark Zuckerberg and his Meta group face internal criticism. On Thursday, March 16, the American giant that owns Facebook or Instagram organized a meeting of its entire staff in order to make a general point about the state of the company. A practice called meeting of all», very popular in companies in Silicon Valley.
A true crisis of confidence arises in the management of the company, according to the American newspaper Washington Post, who was able to listen to an audio recording of the meeting. This event occurred two days after the announcement of 10,000 layoffs to come, given the poor economic health of the multinational.
Zuckerberg facing his contradictions
For an hour, Meta employees notably questioned their boss about his contradictory statements. Four months earlier, in November 2022, the billionaire had already announced 11,000 layoffs, referring to ” a miscalculationof post-Covid business growth… while saying they have no plans to lay off employees again”In the near future».
believing it wasa good questionMark Zuckerberg later explained that this change in position was related to the realization that “the general economic pressures that the company will face will last for some timeand that the layoffs in November would have made it possible to improve its efficiency, sums up theWashington Post.
Employees afraid of being fired
Therefore, another question expressed doubt about the capabilities of the employees”Trust in company management after two rounds of layoffs“, always according to the American newspaper.
Mark Zuckerberg reportedly said he expected to be tested on “performance of the company and the transparency of its objectives, but that leaders must be able to change their way of thinkingsays the Washington Post.
Although announced, the layoffs will not take effect until April, and Meta still does not seem to have designated all those affected. Another employee also pointed out the difficulty of staying productive with this sword of Damocles hanging over your head. CEO’s response:It’s not like we can stop working while we think about this.».
The failure of the Silicon Valley model?
The liberal model of Silicon Valley companies seems to turn against its leaders. Two weeks earlier, it was Google’s turn to organize its ownmeeting of all… and see his management frontally criticized by employees after the record loss of value on the stock market linked to the failed announcement of his AI Google Bard. The company also announced at the end of January its intention to lay off 12,000 people.
The professional El Dorado represented by these companies now seems far away, and those who remain could see their comfort at work in question: during the March 16 meeting, Mark Zuckerberg also mentioned the possibility of reducing the right to telework for employees , arguing that the employees in the office “perform better on average than people who joined the company remotely».