10 Things in Tech: Meta freezes hiring

Hello, again. A leaked memo shows a hiring freeze at Meta will affect "almost every team" at the company, and we're sharing our picks for the best movies coming to Netflix in May.

Let's get started.

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1. Meta's hiring freeze will last through the year. According to an internal note to employees, Facebook's parent company is reducing hiring targets and has paused hiring for the rest of the year, a rare move as the company seeks to rein in spending and shift its priorities.

• Insider previously reported that, in April, Meta had paused hiring of certain levels of engineers — but this hiring pause will "affect hiring goals for almost every team across the company," CFO David Wehner said in the memo.
• In his memo, Wehner cited the invasion of Ukraine, data-privacy changes and an "industry-wide downturn" as reasons for the hiring freeze.
• Internally, some employees have been sounding the alarm that Facebook's business is plateauing — and that it could be the next Yahoo.

Read our exclusive report on Meta's hiring freeze.

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In other news:

2. Is your company just quirky, or is it borderline "cultish"? Silicon Valley's cult-like companies — think WeWork or Theranos — have become a cultural obsession, inspiring books and TV shows in recent months. An expert explains the fine line between loyal teams and problematic workplaces, sharing seven signs your company might be "too cultish for comfort."

3. B2B finance startup MainStreet has laid off a third of its staff. In an email to employees, CEO Doug Ludlow said difficult market conditions and a push toward profitability were behind the action. The layoffs saw the company cut around 50 staff. Get the full rundown here.

4. Netflix shareholders are suing the company. Following the streamer's loss in subscribers — its first in the past decade — shareholders are alleging it misled the market about its ability to attract new customers, Reuters reported. Read the full report.

5. Mental-health startup Cerebral is under investigation. The Drug Enforcement Administration is looking into the $4.8 billion SoftBank-backed telehealth company, which has come under scrutiny for prescribing highly regulated drugs online without in-person visits. Get the full scoop here.

6. Cameo is laying off 25% of its employees. According to The Information, the app that lets people pay celebrities to send them video greetings has laid off more than 80 of its employees. Here's the latest.

7. We explain how to land a Big Tech coding job without a college degree. Jobs in tech are booming – and by utilizing coding bootcamps, learning in-demand coding languages, and joining a developer community, you can land many without a degree. Read our pointers on how to get started.

8. Millions of people will soon be receiving checks from Intuit. The company will pay $141 million to settle allegations that its TurboTax software deceived low-income users into paying for services they should have received for free. Here's how much recipients will get back.

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Odds and ends:

9. These are the best movies coming to Netflix in May. At the start of each month, Insider rounds up the best movies coming to the streamer in the following weeks. This time, among the must-watch flicks are "Dirty Harry" and "Forrest Gump." See our full list here.

10. LinkedIn's CEO shares how the company updated its culture and values. CEO Ryan Roslansky said a company's culture and values need to be evaluated regularly, and that LinkedIn just went through the process of updating theirs. He explains the step-by-step process they took to update them.

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What we're watching today:

• DoorDash, Dropbox, Shopify, Block (formerly Square), and others are reporting earnings today. Keep up with earnings here.
• Women's Venture Capital Summit takes place today and tomorrow.
• "Star Trek: Strange New Worlds" premieres today on Paramount+.
• The World Video Game Hall of Fame inductees are set to be announced today.

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Event invite: Join us on May 9 at 1 p.m. ET for a panel discussion on how to break into tech without experience — and finally land that six-figure salary. Register here.

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Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.