Tech

Meta withdraws internship offers after scrapping its full UK program for this year

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks about "News Tab" at the Paley Center, in New York on October 25, 2019.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg. AP Photo/Mark Lennihan
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Meta has been withdrawing internship offers from London-based recruits as it forges ahead with a "company-wide hiring shift."

The company confirmed to Insider that it did not intend to run its full internship program in the UK this year.

Some Meta hopefuls had accepted internship offers months ago and have had to change their plans. Yure Pablo, who was due to start at Meta in January 2023, took to LinkedIn to announce the news. 

"I changed plans and discarded another offer for 2023 due to this offer," Pablo wrote in a post. "It's not only a job, it's a lifetime opportunity that you work hard for."

A Meta spokesperson told Insider: "Meta interns are crucial in shaping our future. This difficult decision was not made lightly. This company-wide hiring shift is to ensure that our hiring targets are aligned with our highest-priority efforts and business needs." 

Meta has been battling a challenging macroeconomic environment that has led to a wave of layoffs and hiring freezes at other tech companies.

Meta CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, told investors in July that the company planned to reduce headcount growth and shrink teams. Last month, Zuckerberg reportedly told staff the company was freezing hiring and warned of restructuring and downsizing.

Insider's Kali Hays reported that Meta was also conducting "quiet layoffs" by urging managers to label employees as underperforming. Several employees told Insider that they expect the layoffs could affect as much as 15% of the company's workforce.

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Beatrice Nolan was a tech reporter on the business news team in the UK. She joined Insider in January 2022 as a fellow on Business Insider's careers desk. Beatrice covered tech and the future of work, with a focus on artificial intelligence. Some of her stories and early experiments with ChatGPT are widely cited. Beatrice has also discussed her work covering AI trends on panels and radio shows, including NPR.She was based in Business Insider's London office and graduated from the University of  York with a bachelor's degree in English.Featured Articles:Artists say AI image generators are copying their style to make thousands of new images — and it's completely out of their control.ChatGPT was a black swan eventFinland is the world's happiest country, but Finns say we're confusing happiness for something elseThe world is splitting between those who use ChatGPT to get better, smarter, richer — and everyone elseThis man used AI to write and illustrate a children's book in one weekend. He wasn't prepared for the backlash.ChatGPT has only been around for 2 months and is causing untold chaosTwo professors who say they caught students cheating on essays with ChatGPT explain why AI plagiarism can be hard to proveChatGPT wrote college application essays. Admissions professionals said they passed for essays written by students but wouldn't have a chance at any top colleges.College professors are considering creative ways to stop students from using AI to cheatChatGPT wrote my cover letters. Here's how recruiters responded.