Meta cuts 8,000 jobs in May

Meta told employees on April 23 that it will cut about 8,000 jobs, with layoffs scheduled to start May 20. (cnbc.com) The cuts amount to roughly 10% of Meta’s workforce. CNBC reported the plan was laid out in an internal memo sent to staff on Thursday, April 23. (cnbc.com) Meta is also canceling plans to hire for 6,000 open roles. The company said the reductions are meant to improve efficiency while it keeps spending heavily on artificial intelligence. (cnbc.com) (cbsnews.com) The timing lines up with a much bigger investment cycle. Meta told investors on January 28 that it expects 2026 capital expenditures of $115 billion to $135 billion, up from $72.22 billion in 2025. (investor.atmeta.com) That spending is tied to data centers, computing power and what Meta calls its “Superintelligence Labs” effort. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in the January earnings release that he was focused on advancing “personal superintelligence” in 2026. (investor.atmeta.com) (cbsnews.com) The new layoffs follow earlier staff reductions inside Meta this year. CNBC reported that about 1,000 employees in Reality Labs were cut in January, and another round in March hit teams including Facebook, sales, global operations and Reality Labs. (cnbc.com) Meta said in its annual report that it had 78,865 employees as of December 31, 2025, down from 86,482 at the end of 2022. That means the company had already been shrinking before this latest May round. (cnbc.com) (sec.gov) Other tech companies are making similar moves as AI spending rises. CNBC reported Microsoft began offering voluntary buyouts to some U.S. employees the same day, while Amazon had already announced about 16,000 corporate job cuts in January. (cnbc.com) For Meta employees, the next date is May 20. For investors, the bigger number is the $115 billion to $135 billion Meta plans to pour into AI this year. (cnbc.com) (investor.atmeta.com)