Facebook Inc. (FB) saw a drop in both stock price and employee morale over the past year. According to a report by The Wall Street Journal, an internal survey taken by around 29,000 employees revealed that the overall workplace sentiment had turned bleaker compared to a year ago.
The overall favorability score saw a drop to 70% from 73% last year. Only 52% of employees seem optimistic about the company’s future, indicating a 32% drop from 84% last year. Last year, 87% of employees said they were proud to work at Facebook. This number dropped to 70% in the current year. 53% said Facebook was making the world a better place, down 19% from last year.
On average, employees said they planned to work at Facebook for another 3.9 years, which is down from 4.3 years last year. Around 12% of employees intend to stay less than a year. However, not all is bad news. 81% of employees said it was important to fulfil Facebook’s mission of building the community and bringing the world closer. This number stayed flat compared to a year ago.
The report also stated that there was frustration among employees over Facebook’s focus on growth and lack of innovation. There was also concern that other divisions were not given the same importance as the main Facebook platform.
In general, Facebook has had a tough year with issues related to data privacy and security, content and top management. The company witnessed the exits of the founders of its Instagram and WhatsApp divisions over the past year. These matters have taken a toll on the stock price which has plunged several times this year.
Facebook’s stock is down 21% year-to-date and over the past one month, the stock has dropped 7%. As of 3 pm ET, the stock is up 1.7%.