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Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

cnbc.com

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Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#81

Post by jeromegv »

silversconfused wrote: post #62
asciident wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I get a lot of value from Facebook, and it greatly improves my life, even just this past week. I found out about some career opportunities through friends' posts. I saw photos of old friends that made me happy. I got answers to questions I had about a specific uncommon musical instrument I had via a Facebook group. I searched for people who would be in a city I was visiting, to message them to meet up while I was the…

Literally none of those things depend on facebook though. Mastodon, reddit, IRC, or just sitting in your aunt's kitchen for an afternoon could substitute nicely. They have no niche.

You forget about the network effect. None of our friends are on IRC. Reddit is great for some niche groups, but there are tons of facebook groups specific to a niche that really have no equivalent anywhere else.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#82

Post by simonh »

gambler wrote: post #44

>Facebook candidates are asking much tougher questions about the company’s approach to privacy, according to multiple former recruiters. This narrative is highly suspicious. Zukerberg openly and repeatedly said that he doesn't care about anyone's privacy for well over a decade [1]. The whole company is built around collecting and selling private information. Why would people who care about privacy interview with Face…

Maybe they’re just more aware of what Zuckerberg is saying now than what he has said and done in the past.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#83

Post by ma2rten »

5trokerac3 wrote: post #27

Facebook's brand is tainted enough now that smart engineers don't want any of the bleedover into their personal brand that would come from working there. How many engineers, in hiring positions, do you know that have a positive opinion of FB?

Yes, I actually have an overall positive opinion of Facebook in terms of engineering talent. Facebook has made some questionable decisions, but I would not automatically assume that everyone who works there is so immoral that you shouldn't hire them.

Facebook AI research also has some of the top AI researchers.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#84

Post by jeromegv »

skybrian wrote: post #46
JohnFen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't think that people who care about privacy could possibly affect what Facebook does by working there.

Why not? Tech firms work collaboratively and even new employees participate in (some) decision-making.

It's the eternal debate. What has more impact? Employees joining the company and making changes from the inside? You always have the risk of having the employer be: "see! no need to change! there's no problem, people are still applying and we are filling all our position easily!"

Or the employer realizing they can't hire anyone good anymore and decide to make real changes in order to be able to attract the right talent?

It's hard to say which one has the most impact. At the end of the day, management needs to be on board to make changes

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#86

Post by silversconfused »

jeromegv wrote: post #81
silversconfused wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Literally none of those things depend on facebook though. Mastodon, reddit, IRC, or just sitting in your aunt's kitchen for an afternoon could substitute nicely. They have no niche.

You forget about the network effect. None of our friends are on IRC. Reddit is great for some niche groups, but there are tons of facebook groups specific to a niche that really have no equivalent anywhere else.

The value being in the network means the value is subject to social whims. That's not a secure place to do business long term. All other places I listed have networks as well. You have chosen to think this network is better for you, but if/when people move then you might need to re-evaluate that as well.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#88

Post by [deleted] »

gambler wrote: post #44

>Facebook candidates are asking much tougher questions about the company’s approach to privacy, according to multiple former recruiters. This narrative is highly suspicious. Zukerberg openly and repeatedly said that he doesn't care about anyone's privacy for well over a decade [1]. The whole company is built around collecting and selling private information. Why would people who care about privacy interview with Face…

[deleted]

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#89

Post by pan_peter »

clairity wrote: post #51
jfasi wrote: post #38

I just spent three months hiring in NYC, and now that I think about it, I haven't seen a single person mention they were considering counteroffers from Facebook. For context, Facebook and Google are the two largest tech companies with a significant NYC presence. It's telling that a substantial portion of our candidates admitted to considering competing offers from Google, but literally no one was considering Facebook…

> "It's telling that a substantial portion of our candidates admitted to considering competing offers from Google, but literally no one was considering Facebook." intersting anecdote. google is a bigger concern for privacy and personal liberty, yet jobseekers are shunning facebook because of the more wide-ranging negative press.

Social networks live by the sword of voyeurism and die by the sword of voyeurism. This is not something Google has to worry about.

Re: Facebook has struggled to hire talent since the Cambridge Analytica scandal

#90

Post by malvosenior »

bhtru wrote: post #69
clairity wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> "It's telling that a substantial portion of our candidates admitted to considering competing offers from Google, but literally no one was considering Facebook." intersting anecdote. google is a bigger concern for privacy and personal liberty, yet jobseekers are shunning facebook because of the more wide-ranging negative press.

If you have time, can you elaborate why you believe Google is a larger threat to personal liberty and privacy?

Google has far greater potential for invading an individual's privacy than Facebook does. Google has Android, Chrome, search, maps and gmail (and now photos). Those are all very critical pieces to a person's real world life. Facebook has FB, Instagram and WhatsApp. Yes, some private communication but it's limited to "social networking". Your taxes and utility bills don't get mailed to FB Messenger. You don't search for cancer research on Instagram and Facebook can't tell what other apps are installed on your phone.
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