Meta axed its highly sought after London internship program, the latest sign that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is clamping down on costs as the social media giant’s stock prices plummet.
The would-be interns were due to start the coveted positions in January 2023, but were instead notified of the cut in a simple email, sources told The New York Post.
The news left those with internship offers in the lurch, with some complaining they had passed up other opportunities to join Meta.
‘I changed plans and discarded another offers for 2023 due to this offer,’ wrote Yure Pablo, a student studying computer science in Brazil. ‘So if anyone can help me with another opportunities for the next year, I would be glad to apply.’
A spokesperson person for Meta also confirmed that the London internship programs had been eliminated.
News of the terminated internship program comes days after Zuckerberg announced he was freezing all hiring at Meta and that the company would be smaller in 2023 than it was in 2022 – the first downsizing in the company’s 18 year history.
Meta shares have dropped just over 60 percent in 2022, after a tumultuous two years which saw the company face probes from lawmakers and regulators over user privacy, harsh scrutiny over the negative mental health effects of Instagram, and increasing competition for younger users from rivals Snapchat and TikTok.
Meta axed its highly sought after London internship program, the latest sign that CEO Mark Zuckerberg is clamping down on costs as the social media giant’s stock prices plummet
The would-be interns were due to start the coveted positions in January 2023, but were instead notified of the cut in a simple email
Meta spokesperson Andrea Beasley said the London internships were cut in direct response to company’s new staff goals.
‘Meta interns are crucial in shaping our future,’ Beasley told The Post. ‘This difficult decision was not made lightly and was made as a last resort. This companywide hiring shift is to ensure that our hiring targets are aligned with our highest-priority efforts and business needs.’
The status of the Meta’s 2023 US based internships remains unclear, but in August Bloomberg reported the company had postponed doling out fulltime offers to its 2022 interns.
During a Q&A session last week, Zuckerberg blamed the hiring freeze on the stagnating economy.
‘I had hoped the economy would have more clearly stabilized by now, but from what we’re seeing it doesn’t yet seem like it has, so we want to plan somewhat conservatively,’ Zuckerberg said. ‘For the first 18 years of the company, we basically grew quickly basically every year, and then more recently our revenue has been flat to slightly down for the first time.’
Meta spokesperson Andrea Beasley said the London internships were cut in direct response to company’s new reduced staffing goals
Fourteen-year-old Molly Russell died by suicide, a death which social media was officially ruled as having been partly responsible for
Some of Meta’s cost-cutting measures have come at the expense of its teenage Instagram users, as one platform moderator claimed the company has skimped on providing resources for the team intended to flag posts about self harm and suicide.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, the moderator said the company could do ‘much, much better’ in protecting children on the platform.
In an interview with the Daily Mail, she said: ‘However, I think they still could do much, much better – and I don’t think they are prioritizing it money-wise. I feel like they are cutting costs sometimes.’
The moderator joined Meta in 2018, a year after the 14-year-old Molly Russell died by suicide, a death which social media was officially ruled as having been partly responsible for
‘Molly Rose Russell died from an act of self-harm while suffering from depression and the negative effects of online content,’ a London coroner ruled last week after a long judicial inquiry.
After the cause of death ruling, Meta banned any content concerning self-harm – content reportedly coming largely from teenage girls – which moderators are tasked with identifying, then either removing or flagging to law enforcement.
But speaking to DailyMail.com, the unnamed moderator said the multibillion-dollar company was skimping on the program.
‘I don’t think I felt qualified. I just did what had to be done,’ she said. ‘But it was up to us to make that call. Sometimes it could be hard to tell. I was always trying to err on the side of caution.’