Meta weighs 20% cuts
Meta is reportedly preparing global layoffs of up to 20%—as many as 15,800–16,000 roles—to help fund massive AI infrastructure spending this year, per multiple reports and social posts linking the move to a $115–$135B AI push reported. The signal is broader than one company—investments in AI are being used to justify compressing headcounts and shifting to smaller, higher‑skill teams noted on social.
Reuters reported(cnbc.com) that three people familiar with internal discussions said senior leaders were already asked to draft plans for workforce reductions, but that no final decision or timetable had been set. Meta’s Form 10‑K lists roughly 78,865 employees worldwide as of December 31, 2025, giving a baseline for any cutback planning. (sec.gov) Company filings and coverage note that Meta’s prior “year of efficiency” moves removed about 21,000 roles across late‑2022 and early‑2023 (11,000 in November 2022 and ~10,000 in March 2023), providing precedent for a large‑scale restructuring. (cnbc.com) Meta already trimmed its Reality Labs unit earlier this year, eliminating roughly 1,500 positions as the hardware and VR group narrowed focus toward wearables and other prioritized projects. (cnbc.com) Public filings and reporting identify the company’s two headline infrastructure projects—“Prometheus,” a one‑gigawatt New Albany, Ohio supercluster due to come online in 2026, and “Hyperion,” a multi‑gigawatt Louisiana campus designed to scale over several years—part of the buildout driving the budget shift. (techcrunch.com) Markets reacted: shares rose about 3% on the Reuters report, reflecting investor readjustment to potential cost‑cutting alongside the company’s large infrastructure commitments. (finance.yahoo.com)
