Meta staff morale hits low, Zuckerberg's AI hackathon gets cold shoulder

Meta employee morale has hit rock bottom. CEO Mark Zuckerberg tried to boost spirits with a company-wide AI hackathon, but employees showed little interest. Recent massive layoffs have left staff unsettled, with 8,000 people cut last month alone, about 10% of the workforce.

Remaining employees are stuck with repetitive tasks training AI models, which many find unbearable. Zuckerberg announced the hackathon in an internal memo, but workers said they have no motivation to join, feeling the company asks more while cutting colleagues.

Staff say they can't spare time for hackathons amid team sprint deadlines. Meta lags behind in the AI race, struggling to release impressive new models. Zuckerberg promised no more layoffs this year but admitted tougher times may still come.