Meta Employees Absolutely Hate Zuckerberg’s Plan for a Companywide AI Hackathon
Key takeaways
- In internal messages seen by WIRED, some workers wrote that added responsibilities in the wake of recent mass layoffs at the tech giant had left them with little time to join such ancillary activities.
- “I’m literally preoccupied with keeping the lights on for my team,” one employee wrote on Friday. “I have no incentive to participate, let alone have the time to do so.”
- In a post shared to Meta’s roughly 70,000 employees, Zuckerberg framed the hackathon as a way for staff to build camaraderie at a time of widespread internal unrest.
Why this matters: a development in AI with implications for how people work, create, and decide.
Photograph: Noah Berger/AP Photo Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Comment Loader Save Story Save this story Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s internal announcement on Friday about a “large” companywide AI hackathon next month quickly sparked frustration and disbelief among employees.
In internal messages seen by WIRED, some workers wrote that added responsibilities in the wake of recent mass layoffs at the tech giant had left them with little time to join such ancillary activities. Others said they felt discouraged from participating because of what they viewed as low morale and declining trust in management across the company.
“I’m literally preoccupied with keeping the lights on for my team,” one employee wrote on Friday. “I have no incentive to participate, let alone have the time to do so.”