Facebook owner Meta has announced plans to increase hiring in 2024, just five months after axing over 20,000 jobs in a year-long cost-cutting drive.
The company is focusing on key technical roles, particularly in artificial intelligence.
Meta, known for its social media and virtual reality endeavors, said its Reality Labs division would see further financial losses in the coming year.
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The unit is responsible for building the metaverse and immersive virtual worlds.
However, Meta intends to expand its workforce to support “priority areas” and shift its composition to include more “higher-cost technical roles.”
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, revealed the company has a significant backlog of hiring to address in 2024.
He said: “Even though we’re planning to grow head count at a much slower rate going forward, the actual rate next year may temporarily be faster as we work through this hiring backlog.”
This development comes after Zuckerberg called 2023 “the year of efficiency.”
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The company aimed to reshape its culture and management system to adapt to a changing landscape.
In the process, Meta flattened its management structure, reduced some projects, and cut infrastructure costs.
Between November 2022 and May 2023, the company implemented four rounds of layoffs, affecting thousands of employees.
Meta faced challenges related to user growth and heightened competition from emerging apps like TikTok.
It also faced headwinds within the digital advertising industry, such as new privacy regulations introduced by Apple and slower e-commerce market growth.
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Costs in 2024 could reach $99 billion
The company expects expenses in 2024 to range between $94 billion and $99 billion.
The final costs for 2023 are expected to fall within the range of $87 billion to $89 billion.
Daily users on Meta’s social media apps reached 3.14 billion in September, reflecting a seven percent increase from the previous year.
Zuckerberg said artificial intelligence will be one of the company’s primary investment priorities for 2024.
It’ll lead to the hiring of more engineers and the expansion of computing resources.
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Meta recently introduced conversational chatbots and its “Llama 2” large language model, emphasizing its commitment to generative AI.
Moreover, the firm continues to invest in virtual and augmented reality-powered services, expecting increased operating losses due to ongoing product development.
Meta also introduced Threads, a text-based social media app designed to compete with Twitter.
Zuckerberg says the platform has garnered nearly 100 million monthly regular users.
