Mark Zuckerberg Acknowledges Benefits Of Elon Musk's Streamlining Efforts On Twitter

In a recent interview on 'The Lex Fridman Podcast,' Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg commended Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk for his efforts in streamlining Twitter, a move that Zuckerberg believes has been beneficial for the industry as a whole.

Zuckerberg highlighted Musk's early push to make Twitter "a lot leaner" by removing layers of management and reducing the distance between engineers and top executives. The Meta founder acknowledged that these changes were generally positive, adding that they likely inspired others who may have been hesitant to make similar adjustments.

Musk's acquisition of Twitter for a staggering USD 44 billion led to a significant reduction in the company's workforce, bringing it down from nearly 7,800 employees to approximately 1,000. This move enabled a more direct and efficient line of communication between engineers and the executive team.

Drawing parallels to his own company, Zuckerberg revealed that he had undertaken multiple rounds of layoffs over the past eight months, reducing Meta's workforce by 21,000 employees. He labeled 2023 as Meta's "year of efficiency" and emphasised the importance of optimising the ratio of engineers to other roles within the organisation.

During the podcast, Zuckerberg discussed the challenges of layoffs, acknowledging that they often involve employees leaving for reasons unrelated to their performance. He stressed that the decision to downsize was primarily driven by strategic considerations rather than financial constraints.

Zuckerberg further explained his motivation for pursuing a leaner organisation, stating that it was necessary for Meta to become more efficient and adapt to the evolving technological landscape.