Facebook's new head of comms said it doesn't feel like there's an 'insurrection' brewing at the company despite the public backlash

Nick Clegg Facebook

Facebook's new comms boss Nick Clegg said on Monday that he doesn't feel an employee "insurrection" is on the way at Facebook.
He said that Facebook staff are understandably troubled by the scandals surround the company because they are "human beings."
While an internal survey from November showed that company morale took a hit during 2018, reports suggest there is still considerable loyalty towards the leadership including COO Sheryl Sandberg and CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

Facebook's newly initiated head of comms Nick Clegg told journalists in Brussels on Monday that he doesn't feel like an employee insurrection is on the way.

Clegg was formerly deputy prime minister for Great Britain, and was appointed to Facebook in October.

Politico's Ryan Heath was moderating the press conference, and asked Clegg what Facebook is doing to prevent staff being a "tipping point" for the company, pointing to employee protests at Google.

Clegg replied he doesn't get the feeling Facebook employees are on the brink of revolution.

"It doesn't feel to me anyway when I work in the shiny offices in Menlo Park as if there's a sort of insurrection brewing I must say. It doesn't feel like that at all."

He did suggest that Facebook employees feel a certain degree of understandable disenchantment following a year of damaging scandals.

"Employees are human beings and they read a lot of the controversy swirling around Facebook and some of them find that tough. They wouldn't be human if they didn't," Clegg said

An internal Facebook survey obtained by the Wall Street Journal in November showed that morale at the company had taken a nosedive over 2018.

However, that doesn't mean that company loyalty is totally bankrupt. Facebook exec Patrick Walker told Business Insider that COO Sheryl Sandberg had experienced a "huge upswell" of employee support following a New York Times piece that reportedly made her fear for her job. A survey by workplace chat app Blind in December also showed majority support for Sandberg.

Sheryl Sandberg

Clegg added that most important to note is that Facebook is now making "concerted attempts" to take on more responsibility.

"I hope through actions, not through words not through speeches but through actions, that better balance between freedom and responsibility will be better demonstrated. I think that would be something which employees as much as people outside Facebook would appreciate."

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