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Meta's New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

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Re: Meta's New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

#5

I have a genuine question for Meta engineers: what were you hoping to gain by working at this company? What motivated you, and what were your aspirations?

I'm not a Meta engineer, but if I had to offer a guess, the answer would be money.

Re: Meta's New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

#6

I have a genuine question for Meta engineers: what were you hoping to gain by working at this company? What motivated you, and what were your aspirations?

People who work at Meta, the ones I met in London, didn’t seem too far removed from people working in the financial industry.

They didn’t seem to look much further than their desk and their bank accounts for what was meaningful to them. That’s ok, I’m sure we need people like that, but a lot of them were just doing the “career” thing and don’t really mind about what happens to the system they’re contributing to after they’ve done their part. They do the necessary work to keep the system in motion, without caring too deeply about what happens next. They worry about their locus of understanding and control and don’t mind much what happens after. That was my impression.

Re: Meta's New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

#7
How will the people here who continuously rationalize AI rationalize this? A substantial number of the cheerleaders are financially invested in AI of course, but there are useful idiots, too.

You are destroying a profession that was fun and profitable. Don't come with your Luddite and "a subset of us did it to others as well" talking points.

Adding numbers wasn't fun, spreadsheets by hand weren't fun. But you are actively destroying fun thinking, perhaps because you have never worked on anything substantial yourselves and want to drag others down.

Stop enrolling in CS, let us see how that works out for FAANG in 5 years. There is no incentive any longer.

Re: Meta's New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

#8
Currently at Meta. This place has always been a bit ruthless in the 8+ years I've been around to observe. But the article is accurate.

Never seen people this universally fed up. I thought tech was too cushy for it to happen, but there's serious collective action posting out in the open all over the place.

It's also never been more cutthroat, backstabby, scope-grabby, political, and uncertain. There seems to be a flywheel in effect where top talent exits and those who will drown each other to stay afloat are all that remain. It's somehow leapfrogging Oracle's culture even.

Re: Meta's New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

#9

I have a genuine question for Meta engineers: what were you hoping to gain by working at this company? What motivated you, and what were your aspirations?

I'm not a Meta engineer, but if I had to offer a guess, the answer would be money.

I saw a comment by an anonymous Meta engineer who said that it's difficult to leave when you see $2m worth of unvested stock sitting in your account. How many years would you be miserable for $2m? Many people can be easily seduced by that amount of money

Re: Meta's New Reality: Record High Profits. Record Low Morale

#10

I have a genuine question for Meta engineers: what were you hoping to gain by working at this company? What motivated you, and what were your aspirations?

I'm not a Meta engineer, but if I had to offer a guess, the answer would be money.

Having a passion for personal financial solvency is a major motivation for a surprising number of people.
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