About 300 vice presidents at Facebook hired in 2023 will be cut when Mark Zuckerberg hardly creates any groundbreaking products other than firing workers.
Business Insider (BI) said that while Apple struggles to find a new product to replace the iPhone, or Google tries to launch new artificial intelligence (AI) technology to compete with Microsoft, or Tesla focuses on developing Developing self-driving electric vehicle technology, Meta (Facebook) has hardly had any typical products on the market recently.
If Apple is considered by many people to be running out of ideas, or Google is too perfectionistic to let its competitors surpass, then Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is considered to have not had any innovation in recent times.
The failure to produce any outstanding products is forcing Mark Zuckerberg to implement the old success formula of 2023, which is to cut staff. This time it was the company’s senior management’s turn to be fired.
Close sources said Meta has recruited 300 vice presidents divided into 5 levels to implement projects in 2023, double the number from the previous year. Therefore, boss Mark Zuckerberg is planning to cut this number of positions to 250 people and will continue to fire them if the business situation does not improve.
In addition, these middle managers will be compared on their work results and gradually demoted and then fired if they do not work more effectively than other groups.
Previously in April 2024, the stock price of Meta (Facebook) lost more than 200 billion USD in market capitalization because shareholders were dissatisfied with Mark Zuckerberg spending billions of dollars on artificial intelligence (AI) without giving Launch a successful product on the market.
This is a scene in complete contrast to the end of 2023 when investors rejoiced because Meta paid dividends for the first time to shareholders and had business results that exceeded expectations.
As an inevitable consequence, Meta layoffs were predicted by experts because over the past few years, founder Mark Zuckerberg has hardly brought any successful breakthrough ideas to the company. .
“The ultimate goal is to cut middle and senior management personnel and increase low-level workers,” a source close to BI said.
20 years in office
This latest dismissal move by Mark Zuckerberg makes many experts even more upset about the Facebook founder’s abilities. Despite the commitment to streamline the company’s operations to make it more efficient, since Meta implemented a strategy of mass layoffs, up to 20,000 workers by 2023, the company has not been able to stop.
In other words, Facebook’s previous growth momentum of 20-30%/year has ended and Mark Zuckerberg has not been able to find alternative growth drivers, leading to no choice but to lay off workers and cut back. expense.
“I really don’t understand why with so many layoffs we still don’t progress faster?”
Meta’s story is no different from Apple’s when the apple company is also struggling to find new revenue sources to replace the iPhone after sales decline. But while Apple actively launches new products and continuously improves technology instead of laying off human resources, Mark Zuckerberg is doing the opposite.
While many people praise Mark Zuckerberg for growth in 2023, many experts believe that this founder’s contribution to the stock increase is not really worth it. Meta’s mass layoff is a move that any CEO can do.
On the contrary, a series of projects proposed by Mark Zuckerberg, from the virtual universe to AI, did not achieve the expected results. The company’s revenue source still comes mainly from Facebook advertising, which is facing fierce competition from rival Tiktok.
While Bill Gates left Microsoft so that CEO Satya Nadella could focus on cloud computing in the future and most recently the success of ChatGPT, or Apple in the post-Steve Jobs era with CEO Tim Cook growing rapidly thanks to the iPhone ecosystem. Facebook has had almost nothing new since its inception.
Although there are some changes in features and interface, Mark Zuckerberg himself has had to admit that young people today are increasingly preferring Tiktok. Not to mention fake news scandals, spreading misleading information or negatively affecting society, content copyright…
Regardless, Mark Zuckerberg will still sit in the CEO’s chair for a long time with billion-dollar projects such as his virtual universe or AI, as long as the stock price still increases and shareholders are happy.
According to BI, the Facebook platform has turned 20 years old when founder Mark Zuckerberg is still at the helm.
This is a rare thing among hundreds of billion-dollar corporations in Silicon Valley when most founders transfer their empires to their successors to retire or head to other projects.
The most typical example is Amazon’s Jeff Bezos who left the CEO position in 2021 to focus on the aerospace segment, or Google’s Larry Page who left to enjoy himself and become a venture capitalist for other companies. startup project.
The views of these founders are extremely clear when creating conditions for the next generation to follow in their empire.
Although they still hold shares, these executives understand that their brain𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘥 will one day have to stand on its own feet without them, thereby creating conditions for advancement and demonstrating talent. of the next class as well as looking for new ideas and fresh breeze for development.
It is this perspective that has created conditions for Microsoft to flourish in the post-Bill Gates era without being too dependent on personal computer operating system copyrights.
Similarly, Apple in the post-Steve Jobs era, although it still has revenue mainly from selling iPhones, the group has diversified its products (Apple Watch, wireless headphones…) as well as developed its software such as an app market. applications, exclusive search engine fees from Google… to form its own ecosystem.
In contrast to Mark Zuckerberg, 20 years in power is still too short and this founder even proposed long-term projects such as virtual universe or artificial intelligence (AI), but none of them have had breakthrough success. .
Experts say that these technologies will cost a lot of money and take a long time to invest, but are unlikely to be successful. The only effect they can currently bring is to keep Mark Zuckerberg in the CEO seat longer.
In an interview with The Verge, the founder of Facebook revealed very little about the group’s AI development project in the context of countless Big Tech pouring billions of dollars here racing after the success of ChatGPT.
After the exciting period at the end of 2023, investors now realize that Mark Zuckerberg has not really contributed anything to Meta’s growth other than firing employees. Therefore, when information emerged that the company was spending billions of dollars on AI and that the number would continue to increase without having a product to compete with Google or Microsoft, the company’s stock price had to go down.
Trillion USD trap
Meta’s lesson is extremely clear but no business owner cares.
After all, Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta lesson of 200% stock price growth in 2023 when firing 20,000 workers has shown how companies will benefit by pleasing shareholders.
In 2023, Meta’s total market capitalization has increased to more than $1 trillion, making founder Mark Zuckerberg’s total assets exceed $142 billion.
Meta also paid dividends for the first time at 50 cents/share, and implemented a stock buyback plan with a total value of 50 billion USD, thereby helping Mark Zuckerberg earn about 700 million USD per year. .
Facebook’s success in cutting staff in 2023 has prompted a series of companies such as Google, Microsoft or Tesla to follow suit. More than 250,000 tech workers were fired last year amid investors’ ovation to CEOs.
“Mark Zuckerberg is finally a genuine capitalist businessman,” a report by analyst firm MoffettNathanson praised.
Knowing that human resources are the company’s most valuable asset and are the premise for developing new products and technological breakthroughs, thereby contributing to long-term growth. However, for CEOs or business owners, profits and shareholders are still number 1, and workers can be recruited at any time.
Clearly, while Apple, despite running out of ideas, still tries to innovate technology, Google is surpassed by Microsoft and still tries to race AI, Tesla is threatened by BYD and still persists with self-driving car technology, Meta (Facebook) seems to be leading the way. leave it to fate to please shareholders.
