Meta Platforms Inc. has begun notifying thousands of employees about upcoming layoffs as part of a significant restructuring effort aimed at enhancing efficiency and reducing costs. This action aligns with the company’s focus on making substantial investments in artificial intelligence (AI).
Communication to affected employees commenced early Wednesday morning, starting in Singapore, where notifications were sent at 4 a.m. local time. Workers in Europe and the United States can expect similar notifications to be delivered shortly as well, according to an internal memo. Staff has been encouraged to work from home while the company proceeds with cutting approximately 8,000 roles across its global workforce.
The layoffs are particularly concentrated within Meta’s engineering and product teams, with additional rounds of cuts anticipated later in the year, according to sources familiar with the matter who requested anonymity to discuss private plans. On Monday, the company had already informed some employees that around 7,000 workers would be reassigned to new teams dedicated to AI initiatives, covering various products and agents.
Meta has committed more than $100 billion to AI-related capital expenditures this year alone. As of late March, the company had just under 80,000 employees, prior to the layoffs and reassignment initiatives.
In a memo reviewed by Bloomberg News, Janelle Gale, Meta’s Head of People, mentioned, “We’re now at the stage where many orgs can operate with a flatter structure with smaller teams of pods/cohorts that can move faster and with more ownership. We believe this will make us more productive and make the work more rewarding.”
Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has prioritized AI, channeling resources to ensure that Meta stays competitive with rivals like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and OpenAI. This strategic push has resulted in multiple layoffs over recent years as Zuckerberg emphasizes the necessity for increased efficiency within the organization. He has encouraged engineers to utilize AI agents for tasks such as coding and outlined methods to monitor employee devices to enhance technology. Notably, Zuckerberg himself has been developing an AI-powered assistant to help manage his CEO responsibilities, including gathering employee feedback.
However, these sweeping changes have generated frustration and anxiety among Meta employees. Reports indicate that over a thousand employees have signed a petition addressed to Zuckerberg and other company leaders, urging them to halt the collection of data from their devices. This data collection could include detailed tracking of keystrokes, mouse movements, and screen content, aimed at training AI systems. Furthermore, many employees have taken to social media to express how the looming threat of layoffs has adversely affected their work morale.
Investors have also expressed concerns over Meta’s aggressive investment in AI. While the company has portrayed the layoffs as a means to offset some costs associated with its expansive AI endeavors, analysts at Evercore project that the cuts will yield only about $3 billion in savings. This amount represents merely a fraction of Meta’s estimated capital expenditures for this year, which may reach as high as $145 billion, alongside further significant financial commitments for AI infrastructure anticipated over the coming decade.
