Meta plans mass layoffs
Meta is reportedly planning to begin companywide layoffs on May 20, with an initial wave of about 8,000 job cuts as the company redirects resources toward AI spending. (seekingalpha.com) Reports say the reductions will amount to roughly 10% of Meta’s global workforce over time. (seekingalpha.com)
Meta is preparing to start another companywide layoff round on May 20, with about 8,000 jobs expected to go in the first wave. (reuters.com) Reuters reported on April 17 that the initial cuts would equal about 10% of Meta’s global workforce, and that additional layoffs are being planned for the second half of 2026. Meta declined to comment on the timing or size of the reductions. (reuters.com) The cuts would come even as Meta remains highly profitable. The company said on January 28 that it generated $200.97 billion in 2025 revenue, earned $60.46 billion in net income, and spent $72.22 billion on capital expenditures during the year. (about.fb.com) Chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in that earnings release that he was focused on “advancing personal superintelligence” in 2026, and Reuters reported that executives are reshaping Meta around heavier artificial intelligence spending and flatter management layers. (about.fb.com) (reuters.com) That makes this round different from Meta’s last major downsizing. In late 2022 and 2023, the company cut about 21,000 jobs during what Zuckerberg called the “year of efficiency,” after a slump in digital advertising and a sharp stock decline. (reuters.com) This time, Reuters said, Meta is cutting from a stronger position: the stock is still up 3.68% for the year even after pulling back from a record high reached in summer 2025. The reported goal is not emergency cost control, but a leaner organization built around AI-assisted work. (reuters.com) Meta is not alone. Reuters said Amazon has trimmed 30,000 corporate jobs in recent months and Block cut nearly half its staff in February, with executives in both cases tying the changes to efficiency gains from artificial intelligence. (reuters.com) Layoffs.fyi, which tracks tech job cuts, told Reuters that 73,212 tech workers had already lost their jobs in 2026 as of April 17, compared with 153,000 in all of 2024. If Meta follows through on the May 20 plan, it would add one of the year’s biggest single-company cuts to that total. (reuters.com)
