'I decided we needed to get a lot leaner': Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg explains reasons behind layoffs

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has opened up about his decision to remove thousands of employees from Meta and its companies. In a recent discussion with popular AI researcher and podcaster Lex Fridman, Mark Zuckerberg laid bare some of the rationales behind laying off 21,000 employees in the course of a few months. Zuckerberg acknowledged the challenges and emotional toll of layoffs, but said the decision was necessary to ensure the company's long-term success.

Zuckerberg said the layoffs were driven by a number of factors, including the volatile global economy, increased competition, and past mistakes made by the company.

Zuckerberg said, "Layoffs are uniquely challenging and tough in that you have a lot of people leaving for reasons that are not connected to their own performance. Really, it is just a strategy decision and sometimes financially required, but not fully in our case."

He explained why Meta took the decision to fire employees. Zuckerberg said, "A lot of it is more culturally and strategically driven by this push where I wanted us to become a stronger technology company with more focus on building more technical and higher quality products faster. I just view the external world as quite volatile right now."

Zuckerberg said, "I decided we needed to get to a point where we are a lot leaner."

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Zuckerberg underscored his commitment to ensuring the company's stability and ability to invest in long-term ambitious projects, including advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) and the continued progress of the Metaverse. The decision to reduce the workforce was prompted by a combination of factors, including macroeconomic fluctuations, competitive pressures, and past regrettable decisions made within the organization.

"I want to make sure we have a stable position to continue investing in these long-term-ambitious projects that we have, continue to push AI work and continue to push forward all the Metaverse work," Zuckerberg elaborated. He recognized the significant challenges encountered over the past 18 months and explained the necessity of achieving a leaner organizational structure.

However, Zuckerberg acknowledged the inherent difficulties involved in executing such a decision with compassion. He admitted, "It's one thing to decide that at a high level, but the question is how do you execute that as compassionately as possible. There is no good way, there is no perfect way. It can be tough no matter what."

Moving forward, Facebook aims to leverage its AI capabilities, deliver new products, and solidify its position as a leading technology company.

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