Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg speaks during the 56th Munich Security Conference in Munich, southern Germany, on February 15, 2020.
Christof Stache | AFP | fake pictures
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Thursday that there is no timetable for when employees will return to the company’s offices amid a continuing increase in Covid-19 cases in the U.S.
Zuckerberg made his comments in a call with analysts about Facebook’s second-quarter results, specifically criticizing the Trump Administration for its handling of the coronavirus.
“With Covid growing rapidly in the United States, there is currently no end in sight for when our teams here will be able to return to our offices,” said Zuckerberg. “It is incredibly disappointing because it looks like the United States could have avoided this current increase in cases if our government had handled this better.”
This is not the first time that Zuckerberg has criticized President Trump for his handling of Covid-19. Zuckerberg made similar criticisms on July 16 in a publicly broadcast call with Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s leading infectious disease expert.
In May, Zuckerberg said Facebook planned to allow employees to start returning to their offices on July 6.
The company reported 11% revenue growth despite the effects of the coronavirus pandemic on the economy and advertising spending, which raised the company’s shares more than 6% after hours on Thursday.
Facebook spending in the second quarter increased 24% from a year earlier, excluding the company’s agreement with the Federal Trade Commission a year ago. That was a smaller increase than in the first quarter, primarily due to a decrease in travel and event-related costs as a result of employees working from home, Facebook chief financial officer David Wehner said Thursday in a call with analysts.
.
