Facebook is finally acknowledging that its employees may be just a little bit concerned about the company's plummeting stock.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Facebook CEO and cofounder Mark Zuckerberg admitted that the stock's decline is "painful" to watch for some employees during a company-wide meeting earlier this month.

The meeting itself was reportedly part of a larger initiative to boost company morale. Zuckerberg had previously avoided talking about the stock with employees, preferring that everyone stay focused on their work, but in recent weeks, Facebook's senior management started worrying that the stock's poor performance might hurt employee performance.

The Journal reports that Zuckerberg and other executives have now addressed Facebook employees on multiple occasions this month to acknowledge the stock slump, but also to put it in context by emphasizing the company's vision for the future.

In fact, in one meeting with employees, Zuckerberg went so far as to joke about firing David Ebersman, Facebook's CFO who played perhaps the biggest role in IPO. He quickly followed this up by noting that he thinks Ebersman and the deals team "did a great job."

Facebook's stock closed at a new low of $19.87 on Thursday as the share lockup period for its biggest investors ended.