Facebook, Meta’s parent company, declined to comment on whether it plans to slow its recruitment rates or reduce resources for its operations in Ireland.
It comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company wants some employees to leave and will hire fewer engineers than planned as it expects “one of the worst recessions in recent history”. .
Meta currently employs 3,000 people in Ireland and 6,000 more are employed in “supporting this company and services”. Its operations here include its international headquarters, a data center in Meath and a ‘reality lab’ in Cork. It will soon move to a new headquarters in Ballsbridge, Dublin 4.
It is currently trying to build products and services for the Metaverse, a virtual reality platform that Mr. Zuckerberg claims will visit more than a billion people regularly within a few years.
However, in a call to staff this week, Mr Zuckerberg said the company would now be gearing up and would be hiring 30 percent fewer engineers than it planned. He also said that the company would like to get rid of some employees.
“In fact, there’s probably a bunch of people in the company who shouldn’t be here,” he said in an audio recording reported by Reuters.
“Part of my hope by raising the expectations and aiming more aggressively, and turning up the heat a little bit, is that I think some of you might decide that this isn’t the place for you, and that’s your own choice.” It’s fine for me.”
He said that even some unfilled posts will not be filled as part of ration now.
“If I had to bet, I’d say it could be one of the worst recessions in recent history,” he said, explaining the rationale for the belt tightening.
The dire message was reinforced by Chris Cox, Meta’s chief product officer, who sent out an internal memo warning that product development teams would have to make do with fewer resources than expected.
Other large US tech multinationals say they have no current plans to alter hiring plans or scale down their operations, most of which are still looking for hundreds of new recruits.
A spokesperson for TikTok, which is now Facebook’s biggest social media rival, said the Chinese-owned company is still moving forward with the vast expansion of its Dublin base from 2,000 to 3,000 people. The firm announced in May a hiring spree for 1,000 people for its Irish operations.
A spokeswoman for Google, which employs 9,000 people in Dublin, declined to comment. However, it is understood that the company has not changed any recruitment plan.
