Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta has confirmed it plans to slash about 8,000 jobs — roughly 10% of its workforce — informing employees of the sweeping cuts on Thursday.
The Facebook parent disclosed the layoffs in a staff memo, signaling that the company is moving ahead with a massive workforce reduction as it pours billions into artificial intelligence.
The cuts were expected to take effect May 20, with another 6,000 open roles that Meta previously planned to fill getting eliminated.
“I know this is unwelcome news and confirming this puts everyone in an uneasy state, but we feel this is the best path forward, given the circumstances,” Chief People Officer Janelle Gale wrote in the memo obtained by Bloomberg News.
Meta told staffers the company plans to lay off some 8,000 employees next month. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pictured. Bloomberg via Getty Images Gale said the layoffs are part of an effort to “run the company more efficiently” while offsetting the heavy investments Meta is making in AI.
Meta said affected employees will receive severance that includes at least 16 weeks of base pay plus an additional two weeks for every year of service, along with extended health coverage and career support as they exit the company.
The announcement confirms earlier reporting that the tech giant was preparing deep cuts as it reshapes its business around next-generation computing and automation.
Meta had nearly 79,000 employees at the start of the year, and the latest reductions rank among the biggest in the company’s history.
The tech giant already trimmed headcount in recent months, including layoffs in its Reality Labs division and cuts targeting lower-performing staff.
Zuckerberg has been ramping up spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure, including data centers, servers and advanced models designed to compete with rivals.
The cuts are expected to take effect May 20 and will also include the elimination of about 6,000 open roles that Meta had previously planned to fill. REUTERS He has made clear that AI will fundamentally reshape the company’s workforce, saying earlier this year: “I think 2026 is going to be the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work.”
Internally, employees have been encouraged to adopt AI tools to handle tasks like coding and writing, as the company shifts toward smaller, more efficient teams.
Meta’s internal push toward artificial intelligence has also sparked backlash among employees, particularly over new tools designed to monitor workplace activity and train AI systems.
Staffers have voiced discomfort with the tracking software — which logs keystrokes, mouse movements and on-screen activity — as the company leans more heavily on real-world data to build AI-powered tools.
Meta is just one of many major tech companies laying off thousands of workers as AI gains adoption in the US and beyond.
US tech employment had its worst start to the year since 2023, according to a report executive coaching firm Challenger, Gray & Christmas said in a report published earlier this month.
The first three months of 2026 saw 52,050 tech layoffs — a 40% jump from the same period last year, the report found.
Last month, AI led the list of reasons employers gave for tech layoffs — accounting for 15,341 of the firings, or 25% of the total. In February, the figure was 10%.
Oracle in March announced thousands of layoffs amid declining stock prices while taking on debt for AI investments. In January, Amazon said it would axe 16,000 corporate employees, with the company suggesting AI will do their work, instead.
