Google and Meta on course to increase headcount by around 8% in 2024: UBS

According to research conducted by UBS, Alphabet (NASDAQ:GOOGL) and Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) are on course to increase headcount by 8% and 7.6% year-on-year, respectively, in 2024.

The investment bank said Google’s total job postings are indexing ~20% below 2018 levels, during which it added ~18,600 employees – implying it will add ~14,900 during 2024.

“Given the much higher disclosed baseline of ~183k employees as of 2023-end, this implies headcount growth of ~8%,” analysts wrote.

“Unsurprisingly, job postings for technical roles are, however, ~9% higher than 2018 levels, suggesting what should be higher average salary per employee added during 2024.”

Meanwhile, Meta Platforms’ total job postings are indexing at ~48% of 2018 levels, during which it added ~10,500 employees – implying it will add ~5,100 employees in 2024.

“If the company holds the current pace, this should reflect a ~7.6% increase versus the end-2023 disclosed headcount of 67.3k,” stated UBS.

“Postings for technical roles are, however, indexing down 24% by comparison, suggesting what should be higher average salary per employee added during 2024.”