Meta freezes staffing, cuts budgets to compete

Meta Platforms’ Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg outlined sweeping plans to reorganize teams and reduce head count for the first time ever, calling an end to an era of rapid growth at the social media giant.

In what would be the first major budget cut since the founding of Facebook in 2004, Zuckerberg said the company will freeze hiring and restructure some teams to trim expenses and realign priorities. Meta will likely be smaller in 2023 than it was this year, he said

He announced the freeze during a weekly Q&A session with employees, according to a person in attendance. He added that the company would reduce budgets across most teams, even those that are growing, and that individual teams will sort out how to handle headcount changes. That could mean not filling roles that employees depart, shifting people to other teams, or working to “manage out people who aren’t succeeding,” according to remarks reviewed by Bloomberg.

“I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now,” Zuckerberg said. “But from what we’re seeing it doesn’t yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively.” A Meta spokesperson declined to comment.

Meta stock, which was already trading down to start the day, fell further on the news, down 3.7% from Wednesday’s close. The shares have fallen 60% so far this year.

The further cost cuts and hiring freeze are Meta’s starkest admission that advertising revenue growth is slowing amid mounting competition for users’ attention.

Fewer people seek jobless aid amid solid hiring across nation

The number of Americans filing for jobless benefits dropped last week, a sign that few companies are cutting jobs despite high inflation and a weak economy.

Applications for unemployment benefits for the week ending Sept. 24 fell by 16,000 to 193,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That is the lowest level of unemployment claims since April. Last week’s number was revised down by 4,000 to 209,000.

Jobless aid applications generally reflect layoffs. The current figures are very low historically and suggest Americans are benefiting from an unusually high level of job security. A year ago last week, 376,000 people applied for benefits.

The economy shrank in the first half of the year, the government said in a separate report Thursday on gross domestic product, the broadest measure of the economy’s output.

Yet employers, who have struggled to rehire after laying off 22 million workers at the height of the pandemic, are still looking to fill millions of open jobs. There are currently roughly two open positions for every unemployed worker, near a record high.

$1 hourly raise coming to most Amazon logistics workers in U.S.

Amazon.com announced a pay increase for hourly workers in the U.S. that it says will take the average starting wage for most front-line employees in warehousing and transportation to more than $19 an hour.

The company’s minimum level of $15 an hour for all hourly workers in the U.S. remains unchanged. For jobs in Amazon’s customer fulfillment and transportation groups, the starting pay will increase to $16 an hour, a spokesperson said Wednesday in an email.

The Seattle-based company said the raise represents additional spending of almost $1 billion over the next year. Amazon is the second-largest private employer in the U.S., behind Walmart.