Brendan Dell

Today's NYT headline: "Meta Lays Off 8,000 Employees, As A.I. Casualties Mount."

Here's the chart they didn't show you.

Meta had 44,942 employees in 2019. They peaked at 87,314 in September 2022.

After five rounds of layoffs across four years, including this morning's 8,000, they're at roughly 71,000.


Still 58% larger than pre-pandemic.

Zuckerberg confessed the actual reason in his November 2022 memo: he believed COVID would be a "permanent acceleration."

But of course nothing is permanent.

I share this chart because right now people are making decisions about their careers based on a story that's not right.

AI isn't going to replace white collar work.

It's not going to replace lawyers, doctors, engineers, or other thinking work any time soon.
____________

Years ago I met my friend's godfather who was nearly a billionaire from real estate. He was one of the smartest people I've ever met.

I asked him what made a good investment versus a bad one. Without blinking he said: "Ten years."
___________


That's the answer for careers too. You can't pivot right now because of a headline cycle.

If you joined tech because you like building things, money, or the pace, that's all still going to be there.

If you're sick of the game, that's different. We can't conflate the two.


Full breakdown on what's actually driving these layoffs: https://youtu.be/zL83q8gROTc

1 week ago | [YT] | 110