Frank, straight talk is not generally associated with Mark Zuckerberg, but he was very open during a Q&A session with his employees. 

Zuck gave them a couple of warnings.  1. The upcoming economic downturn, aka “recession” that is on the way, will be “one of the worst downturns we’ve seen in recent history.”

2. He wants to rid his company of slackers and underachievers. 

It was refreshing to hear a CEO do something other than cow-tow to employees; Zuckerberg did the opposite, telling his employees he hopes he never has to see a bunch of them again in the future. 

“Realistically, there are probably a bunch of people at the company who shouldn’t be here.

Part of my hope by raising expectations and having more aggressive goals, and just kind of turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this place isn’t for you and that self-selection is OK with me.”

Meta is putting the reigns on hiring, with Zuck saying they will hire 30% fewer engineers this year.  In a typical year, the company employs 10,000 new hires, but he said that would go down to 6,000 or 7,000.  According to a NY Post report, the company enacted a hiring freeze in May after a slower-than-expected earnings report for Q1. 

The Meta stock price has dropped over 50% in the past year, so clearly, changes will have to be made. Still, instead of announcing layoffs and firings, Zuckerberg creatively announced that many employees would be weeded out organically and decide on their own that they aren’t qualified, talented, or hard enough workers to make the cut there in a world that is changing. 

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