Meta reportedly freezes hiring, warns of layoffs

Yahoo Finance Live anchors discuss stock performance for Meta after reports surfaced that the technology company is planning to suspend hiring and potentially lay off workers.

Video transcript

[AUDIO LOGO]

BRAD SMITH: Also we're following shares of META, Meta. Meta Platforms currently trading higher, by about 1%, this morning. Yesterday, CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly told employees, the social media giant is freezing hiring and restructing-- restructuring, excuse me, some teams in an effort to cut costs and shift priorities. This follows a report, last week, that the Facebook parent company was looking to reduce costs by at least 10% and was quietly reducing headcount.

Facebook or Meta also joins the ranks of other companies that have announced some of the hiring freezes over the course of this week. And this has been especially within tech that we've been watching, whether it's on the crypto front or whether it is on the social media company front. All of these companies are discussing or at least having their internal conversations right now around where they do need to freeze some of those hiring plans in the face of also having to report on a quarter-in, quarter-out basis that, yes, we are paying employees more.

And to do so, that also means that that's more money that's coming out of our balance sheets. And so if you're going to continue to cite that as a headwind, what are you doing internally to also kind of combat that head wind, even if you are competing for the next wave of top talent out there?

BRIAN SOZZI: Well, Brad, it might be time to start cutting back on the free massages and the free amazing lunch at some of these companies here.

BRAD SMITH: Can't do that.

BRIAN SOZZI: The perks at these companies are set up for a different time in a different climate. If we are in a recessionary environment, and you're seeing slowing ad spending. You're seeing it out of Google. You're seeing on a Meta. Why are you still giving away all this free stuff? I get you have to keep employees, but still there's got to be some cutbacks.

BRAD SMITH: Retention. It's a retention effort.

BRIAN SOZZI: OK.

BRAD SMITH: And I will give them that. I will say for the employees that are coming into the office or coming into the workplace, you still want some of that experience.

BRIAN SOZZI: I'm dropping the hammer, Brad.

BRAD SMITH: You're saying, no.

BRIAN SOZZI: You get nothing.

BRAD SMITH: Nobody gets the free bananas--

BRIAN SOZZI: Go to McDonald's. Go to McDonald's.

BRAD SMITH: --in the kitchen. Yeah.

BRIAN SOZZI: You're pulling a million dollars a year, go get your McDonald's.