Data Protection
Latest penalty means that embattled Meta has been fined around US$1-billion by the European Union since September last year.
SOCIAL MEDIA
Mark Zuckerberg details how Meta is facing tougher economic times
By our News Team | 2022
A drop in advertising revenue due to Apple’s new privacy policy and increased competition from the likes of TikTok are said to be factors.
Even the mighty Meta – home to the likes of Facebook and Instagram – is not immune to global economic headwinds and has announced that it will slow down its hiring of new employees.
Among the challenges that the social media and digital technology giant is facing are a drop in advertising revenue due to privacy changes by Apple, tough competition from rivals such as TikTok, the near-collapse of revenue from Russia due to its conflict with Ukraine, and a struggle to monetise some of Meta’s video content.
Photo by Cottonbro from Pexels
The company is also currently in the midst of a major change in strategy, as it attempts to focus more on the Metaverse, augmented reality and virtual reality – and their potential for new advertising income and other revenue streams.
Fewer new employees, but no employment freeze
Although Meta said late last week that it is slowing down on the hiring of new workers, this does not mean a ‘no hire’ policy is in place and it will still be taking on new engineers, in particular.
There are also no plans to lay off workers – although news agency Reuters has reported on an internal address that Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg made to the company workforce, in which he said he expected that some employees would find the company was no longer the place for them and would be leaving. He called it “self-selection” and said it was “okay with me”.
Last week, Zuckerberg said in an earnings call with analysts that Meta planned to slow the pace of some investments because of its current challenging growth prospects.
“After the start of Covid, the acceleration of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth, but we’re now seeing that trend back off,” he is quoted as saying by broadcaster CNN. He noted that the company’s immediate focus would be on short-form video and the Metaverse.
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