When someone with degrees in gender studies and social psychology is a staff “quantitative researcher” at Meta, that’s when you know there was a problem. The same goes for “quantitative UX researchers” with no rigorous math / stats ability Add to these, the day in the life tiktoker PMs 🤡 It’s there on LinkedIn, look it up
87,000 employees for 4 biz segment?
4 major apps and a hardware division, with all the underlying call centers, data centers, AI research and machinery, engineers and business teams. Not to mention ops, finance and facilities.
WhatApp was 40 employee
Well the fact that they doubled their workforce in 2y starting with a base of 40K employees without actually having a clear direction on what they’re heading towards for the most part of those 2 years (ask people inside today and they still aren’t sure). Basically: hire them like there are no humans going to be left to hire
I thought it was legs or something
I really don’t think that’s what screwed Meta lmao
It is. Plenty of non-engineering/product folks driving decisions at companies since they offer high TC. I know a bunch of people like this who barely contribute in their roles
I don’t necessarily disagree with your points. However, in Meta’s case, wasn’t it more if an all-in gamble on a failed product? They literally changed their name to it.
Yup
Yep. This goes for all big tech companies. These companies were all engineering driven. But due to high TC and hype, they've now attracted a lot of non-technical people who want to "work in tech". That's led to huge inefficiency.
Agreed. Great PMs add value but most PMs and these non technical researchers add little value to the team
One could argue that Facebook adds negative value to society yet here we all are. The problem is that engineers created a monster (or rather ML was asked to optimize for engagement).
I just saw that LinkedIn post too, checked it out and bam - women’s studies degree. I literally remember considering his path in college because the type of psychology he studied was the easiest degree you could get. I ended up going a slightly more difficult way, but no way I should be a staff anything, anywhere.
It’s insane that they spend their days in a bubble at Meta rarely producing something that’s useful or non-obvious. And are managed often by similar individuals It’s a circus lol
I saw that too lol. I thought he meant like finance quant. I was surprised to see that role at Meta, until I clicked his profile.
OP is speaking the truth. Meta internally is a complete shiit show, I was genuinely shocked to see what a mess it is. They expanded way too quickly and it shows.
What an odd assumption about social psychology PhDs. Social psych is a highly quantitative field and PhDs in that field spend several years in advanced math and stats courses.
Some are some most certainly aren't.
You mad?
Design/UX Researchers have very low impact on product trajectory - their output is mostly ignored, or they produce bullshit like bullying and teen self-esteem studies on Instagram. Its the 23yo vibing PMs, with whom I have a bone to pick
The design and UX “researchers” simply produce the obvious. It’s ridiculous