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Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

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Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#201

Wall Street rewarded Meta with a massive jump in share price (+15% in one day) when Zuck stated on an earnings call that he was all now about efficiency (and therefore a tacit admission that he won't just throw the entire company off the VR cliff into the abyss). Zuck probably thinks more of the same will buy additional good will from Wall St.

And don't forget that Meta just did a massive stock buyback, so this isn't just about investors out there in the world, this is about Meta itself. I've started to pay a bit more attention and noticed that there do seem to be a fair number of major investors buying up more shares of a down company before layoffs are announced. I like to imagine that what we're seeing is a healthy correction and move towards more profi…

> I've started to pay a bit more attention and noticed that there do seem to be a fair number of major investors buying up more shares of a down company before layoffs are announced.

One other thing I feel I noticed (it's probably not the case but it's one of those things you are just paranoid about) is the stock price peaking around RSU award time. At least they now tend to happen quarterly instead of yearly.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#202
post #112

Somehow the phrase that struck me as most absurd from the whole article was: > Some employees expressed worry about whether they’d receive their bonuses, which are set to be distributed this month, if they lose their jobs beforehand I would have thought, if you get a bonus, you are a valued employee and safe from layoffs? So getting a bonus despite being fired should be out of the question?

You assume that layoffs are performance based which is often not the case

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#203
post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Done right, we could have ended up in a sci-fi future strapped to our VR headsets all day long When I read this phrase, the spaceship from Wall-E comes to mind. But in reality, it would probably look a little bit more dystopian than what Pixar imagined...

Most people would say they HATE this future, but most people would LOVE this future. As passive infotainment consumers, stereotypical scroolers, they are already glued to TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, reddit and whatever other digital dopamine dispenser and skinner box there. Significantly improve on that with pleasant, increased or even full immersion and you got the next big thing.

You forgot to add miserable and depressed to your list

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#204
post #88

Two rounds of layoffs seems to say something that one round doesn't. You would expect that all things being equal there is never a scenario where it is better to do two cuts instead of just one. So why? a) things were much worse than realised. Maybe but it would have to be a big shock coming because Meta's general performance has held up OK, certainly nothing that would warrant this. b) HR reasons? some sort of requi…

Back in 2009-2010, when Facebook was going gangbusters, I used to joke that "Facebook is the new AOL."

Now Facebook is the old AOL.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#205
post #88

Two rounds of layoffs seems to say something that one round doesn't. You would expect that all things being equal there is never a scenario where it is better to do two cuts instead of just one. So why? a) things were much worse than realised. Maybe but it would have to be a big shock coming because Meta's general performance has held up OK, certainly nothing that would warrant this. b) HR reasons? some sort of requi…

> Mark wants to go all in AI instead of Metaverse I see no evidence of that. The recent announcements are at best a re-org, or worse a cleanup of three+ reorgs where FAIR and others were subsumed into RL-R. It is clear that The Meta leadership doesn't really understand what they are doing. The first cut I suggest was designed to send a message to investors that meta is "serious" about something. I assume that this se…

> Boz: arrogance personified. None of the misteps in the last 4 years are ever his fault. It was market forces that meant that raybans failed, rather than releasing them before they were finished. the quest pro didn't sell, not boz's fault. The market wasnt ready for a capable device with absolutely no software support for the new features. Want to join your friend in a VR game? sure! just perform 15 clicks and wait 7 minutes. No not those clicks, no you need to press the hidden sub menu silly! Oh, no, remember you need to have an OS update first. 10 minute update tax!

I wonder if companies like Meta will finally start caring deeply about performance of their products, and will switch to software paradigms which preserve performance (see for example latest Casey Muratori talk on slowness of Clean Code, and also his "40 million lines of code" talk). I mean, the forced updates of software, and how long they take, is a major complain of users of many modern entertainment devices (the VR googles, game consoles etc.). They long updates are of course caused by "the stack" being a pile of uber-overcomplicated shit, which was quick and convenient to develop, but now is harming the product.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#207
post #206

Gotta be honest, as someone working at Meta right now, every week to hear rumors and 'articles' about being laid off, it sucks. :(

Same thing in a lot of places unfortunately. The difference is that less visible companies don't get the rumors from the news.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#208
post #112

Somehow the phrase that struck me as most absurd from the whole article was: > Some employees expressed worry about whether they’d receive their bonuses, which are set to be distributed this month, if they lose their jobs beforehand I would have thought, if you get a bonus, you are a valued employee and safe from layoffs? So getting a bonus despite being fired should be out of the question?

At least one thing the C-suite and the rank-and-file have in common.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#209

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Mark wants to go all in AI instead of Metaverse I see no evidence of that. The recent announcements are at best a re-org, or worse a cleanup of three+ reorgs where FAIR and others were subsumed into RL-R. It is clear that The Meta leadership doesn't really understand what they are doing. The first cut I suggest was designed to send a message to investors that meta is "serious" about something. I assume that this se…

On Instagram: they'll discontinue ig live shopping, which is at least some good news. Fb: I've been out of it and the reality is millennials and gen z won't be joining it. They know that. Their only bet is to lobby congress to ban tiktok.

Considering Meta is banned in China, I don't understand why there's even a question about this.

Re: Meta plans thousands more layoffs as soon as this week

#210
post #88

Two rounds of layoffs seems to say something that one round doesn't. You would expect that all things being equal there is never a scenario where it is better to do two cuts instead of just one. So why? a) things were much worse than realised. Maybe but it would have to be a big shock coming because Meta's general performance has held up OK, certainly nothing that would warrant this. b) HR reasons? some sort of requi…

Back in 2009-2010, when Facebook was going gangbusters, I used to joke that "Facebook is the new AOL." Now Facebook is the old AOL.

I think it’s hilarious that they went and changed their name to their worst idea.

The term “metaverse” comes from Snow Crash, which is a dystopia. They would know this if they actually read.

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