What are the two projects suspended by Mark Zuckerberg for the dismissal of 11,000 Meta employees

The auspicious winds that have been blowing in favor of tech companies have suddenly changed course and today, the layoffs they are the order of the day. Twitter, Amazon and Objective they are shortening their models and also canceling many of his projects.

The company led by Mark Zuckerberg has made a cut of 11,000 employees, which means the 13% of its staff. It also has a hiring freeze until the first quarter of 2023, the company’s CEO announced in a statement.

This represents the first massive job cuts in his 18-year rise continuously. The decision will not only affect the multinational’s staff, but will also upset some of the projects planned for the next few dates and which will never see the light.

A report by the Reuters agency states that, 46% of people Those who were removed from the company were in technology positions, while the remaining 56% were related to commercial areas, according to Meta’s human resources manager, Lori Goler.

In the new environment, the firm needs to be more capital efficient, which is why it has transferred more of its resources to fewer areas high priority growth areas, including artificial intelligence, advertising and trading platforms.

At Zuckerberg’s express request, his commitment to the metaverseeven if it is a project considered high risk.

Portal: screens for video calls

The family of video calling devices Portal It allowed the user to connect more closely by applying artificial intelligence technology to its camera that moved and focused based on your movements, so you were always well framed.

This decision has led to the discontinuation of the devices. This would be a complementary measure to the one taken by the company at the beginning of the year, when it was decided not to sell it anymore.

At the time, the company ensured that these devices could preserve users’ privacy and protect their information. Thus, he indicated that it was possible to deactivate both the camera and the microphone and establish access passwords.

Furthermore, this product could represent, according to market estimates, barely 1% of the market global for Meta, so it wasn’t cost-effective to keep early product development or new releases.

first smart watch

Another of the projects that Meta had on track to take off in late 2023 was to enter the market smart watches compete with other products like the Apple Watch or the Pixel Watch with a self-made and developed smartwatch.

Finally, after various rumors about possible functions and features, which included a camera included in the device, the project was completely blocked even before its arrival on the market and most likely will not be resumed in the short or medium term.

Personnel who were involved in the development of the smartwatch will join the company’s virtual reality glasses project, as investments in Reality Labs are aimed at augmented reality through devices manufactured by the company.

SL