As Silicon Valleys faces the pressures of a poor economy, Facebook is revving up its business plan to steal away top talent and purchase struggling startups in the near future.

According to Business Week, the social network feels the economic downturn presents the perfect opportunity to grow. As other tech companies experience bankruptcy or layoffs, look for Facebook to swoop in and take the best employees, or perhaps buy companies altogether.

"Six to 12 months ago, many of these companies were priced to perfection," said James Breyer, a venture capitalist and Facebook investor. "My expectation is there will be highly attractive acquisitions for Facebook in the next 12 to 18 months." 

The social network was also recently granted an exemption by the Securities & Exchange Commission, meaning that Facebook will not be forced to publicly disclosing its financial results, in turn helping it attract more employees.

According to the Securities & Exchange Act of 1934, a private company must disclose its results when it has 500 stockholders and $10 million in assets. Facebook doesn't have that many shareholders yet, but employees are often given equity in the company in the form of restricted stock. The ability to hand out equity even as it passes 500 employees now makes Facebook an even more attractive employer to some of Silicon Valley's brightest minds.