"Today I’m sharing some of the most difficult changes we’ve made in Meta’s history," CEO Mark Zuckerberg began in a letter to employees Wednesday morning, Nov. 9.
"We are also taking a number of additional steps to become a leaner and more efficient company by cutting discretionary spending and extending our hiring freeze through Q1 (the first quarter).
"I want to take accountability for these decisions and for how we got here. I know this is tough for everyone, and I’m especially sorry to those impacted."
The company’s operating income dropped 46 percent in the third quarter from the previous year to $5.66 billion, according to CNBC.
"At the start of COVID, the world rapidly moved online and the surge of e-commerce led to outsized revenue growth," Zuckerberg said. "Many people predicted this would be a permanent acceleration that would continue even after the pandemic ended. I did too, so I made the decision to significantly increase our investments.
"Unfortunately, this did not play out the way I expected. Not only has online commerce returned to prior trends, but the macroeconomic downturn, increased competition, and ads signal loss have caused our revenue to be much lower than I’d expected. I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that."
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