Meta cuts about 8,000 jobs

Meta Platforms is preparing to start another large round of job cuts on May 20, according to Reuters and an internal employee memo reported by CNBC. The company plans to eliminate about 10% of its workforce, or roughly 8,000 jobs, as it increases spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and reorganizes teams around that push. Meta will also scrap plans to hire for 6,000 open roles, CNBC reported, citing the memo. The cuts would mark Meta’s biggest restructuring since its 2022-2023 “year of efficiency,” when it eliminated about 21,000 jobs. ### How many jobs is Meta cutting, and when do they go? May 20 is the date Meta has targeted for the first wave of layoffs, Reuters reported on April 17, citing three people familiar with the plans. One of those sources said the initial round would affect about 10% of Meta’s global workforce, or close to 8,000 employees. Reuters also reported that additional cuts are planned for the second half of 2026, though the timing and size had not been finalized. (finance.yahoo.com) CNBC reported on April 23 that Meta told employees in a memo that the company would also cancel 6,000 open requisitions. Bloomberg was first to report the memo, CNBC said. Meta declined to comment to Reuters on the timing or scope of the planned cuts. ### What does Meta’s latest headcount show? (finance.yahoo.com) Meta said in its first-quarter results on April 29 that headcount was 77,986 as of March 31, 2026. The company had reported 78,865 employees as of Dec. 31, 2025, according to its annual report and fourth-quarter results. A 10% reduction based on that year-end figure comes to roughly 7,900 jobs, which is consistent with reports that about 8,000 positions are being cut. (cnbc.com) The scale matters because Meta entered 2026 from a position of financial strength, not from the advertising slump that drove its earlier cost-cutting campaign. Reuters reported that Meta generated more than $200 billion in revenue last year and about $60 billion in profit. ### Where is the money going instead? (investor.atmeta.com) Meta raised its 2026 capital spending outlook to between $125 billion and $145 billion, according to its April 29 earnings release. Capital expenditures in the first quarter alone were $19.84 billion. Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said in that release that Meta had “strong momentum” across its apps and had released the first model from Meta Superintelligence Labs. (finance.yahoo.com) Reuters reported that Zuckerberg is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI as he tries to reshape Meta’s internal operations around the technology. CNBC separately reported that Meta’s latest layoffs follow smaller cuts this year tied to efficiency efforts and a sharper focus on generative AI. (investor.atmeta.com) ### Why are reports about snacks and chargers part of this story? Storyboard18 reported on May 18 that former Meta employee Adel Wu described panic ahead of the coming layoffs and recalled workers stocking up on office snacks and chargers before an earlier reduction. MSN carried similar accounts, describing a “doomsday” atmosphere among employees ahead of the latest cuts. Those reports describe employee anxiety, but they do not change the central facts of the restructuring plan. (finance.yahoo.com) Reuters reported that Meta’s planned 2026 layoffs would be its most significant since the company’s late-2022 and early-2023 restructuring. That earlier campaign came when Meta’s stock was falling and executives were correcting what Reuters described as unsustainable pandemic-era growth assumptions. (storyboard18.com) ### How does this fit with Meta’s other cuts this year? January and March already brought smaller reductions inside Meta, CNBC reported. The January cuts affected about 1,000 workers in Reality Labs, while a March round hit hundreds of employees across Facebook, Reality Labs, global operations and sales. CNBC also reported that Meta said it would rely more heavily on AI technologies instead of some third-party vendors and contractors used for content moderation. (finance.yahoo.com) Other large technology companies have also linked workforce reductions to AI-related efficiency gains. Reuters reported that Amazon had trimmed 30,000 corporate employees in recent months, while Block cut nearly half its staff in February. Reuters cited Layoffs.fyi as saying 73,212 tech workers had lost jobs so far in 2026. (cnbc.com) ### What should employees and investors watch next? May 20 is the first date employees are watching because that is when Reuters said the initial wave is scheduled to begin. Reuters also reported that Meta is planning more cuts later in 2026, though executives may adjust those plans depending on developments in AI capabilities. Meta’s next public benchmark will be its subsequent earnings updates, where investors will be able to track headcount, capital spending and any change to the company’s $125 billion to $145 billion capex outlook. (finance.yahoo.com)