Meta, a technology conglomerate well known for its eagerness to continuously experiment and integrate new functionalities into its suite of social media platforms, is once again expanding Facebook’s capabilities by reintroducing job postings. This move is particularly intriguing because it represents not a brand-new innovation, but rather a revival of an older idea. Facebook originally ventured into the employment space in 2017, enabling businesses and job seekers to connect directly through its platform. However, the initiative was discontinued less than five years later. Now, this functionality returns—refined and repurposed—with an explicit emphasis on facilitating local hiring, particularly in entry-level, service-oriented, and trade-related fields where community-based connections are often vital.
In terms of placement, the job listings reside within a dedicated tab in Facebook’s established Marketplace section—a space long associated with casual commerce and neighborhood exchanges. Meta also notes that these postings may surface organically within relevant Facebook groups, which continue to serve as thriving digital town squares for countless communities. Furthermore, business pages retain the ability to post job openings directly, ensuring that both small enterprises and larger organizations have the flexibility to advertise roles in a manner that best reaches their intended audiences. The positions available through this reinstated feature are strictly limited to users aged eighteen and older, and all postings must comply fully with Facebook’s internal content and advertising guidelines.
Unsurprisingly, several categories of employment are explicitly prohibited. Beyond the exclusion of illegal or inappropriate industries such as adult services or drug-related work, Meta has also chosen to disallow in-person childcare listings. This latter restriction is notable—perhaps even ironic—given that many neighborhoods already host Facebook groups devoted entirely to connecting families with local nannies, babysitters, or caregivers.
Browsing through some of the listings currently available in Seattle reveals the nature of this revival: employers are using it much like a digital analogue of the traditional “Help Wanted” sign, signaling immediate opportunities for local work in restaurants, retail, and small businesses. The logic behind this adoption is intuitive. Outside of platforms like Nextdoor, Facebook remains one of the most active venues for hyperlocal dialogue—whether residents are seeking household recommendations, advertising garage sales, or simply trying to determine why a county sheriff’s helicopter might be hovering over the neighborhood on an otherwise quiet Tuesday evening.
This update, therefore, constitutes more than a mere addition to the app’s interface; it marks a genuine reinstatement of an earlier Facebook initiative. When the job listings feature first debuted in 2017, it was initially available to users in the United States and Canada before expanding its reach to more than forty countries by 2018. Over time, however, the program’s scope narrowed. By 2022, Meta had scaled the service back to North America alone, and in 2023 officially discontinued it altogether. Even after the shutdown, some organizations attempted to replicate similar postings through paid advertisements—a workaround that eventually created reputational risks for the company. In several instances, advertisers were found to have engaged in discriminatory practices, using targeting mechanisms to prevent certain demographics, including specific genders or religious affiliations, from viewing their job ads. Such tactics clearly violated Facebook’s anti-discrimination policy, which expressly prohibits exclusionary targeting in employment, housing, or credit-related advertising.
Fortunately, the newly relaunched jobs feature incorporates safeguards designed to prevent similar misuse. Meta has reiterated that every listing must respect its updated discrimination guidelines, which aim to uphold equal opportunity standards across all its platforms. As of now, the revived Facebook Jobs experience is officially live—but only available to users within the United States. This focused rollout suggests that Meta is reintroducing the feature cautiously, perhaps testing its performance and reception before considering future expansions. Altogether, the return of job postings represents a calculated attempt to position Facebook once again as a vital local hub—blending digital socialization with the practical realities of community-based employment.
Sourse: https://www.theverge.com/tech/798921/facebook-local-jobs-us
