Meta Platforms will cut about 10% of its global workforce from 20 May, marking the start of a wider restructuring as the company increases spending on artificial intelligence (AI) and plans further layoffs later this year, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The company, which owns Facebook and Instagram is expected to lay off about 8,000 employees. More layoffs are expected later in the year, although the timing and scale have not yet been finalised. Meta declined to comment on the details of the planned cuts.
The company had previously been reported to be considering cuts of 20% or more of its workforce.
As of the end of December, Meta employed nearly 79,000 people.
Some staff are expected to be moved into new teams, including an “Applied AI” unit focused on building systems that can carry out complex tasks. Others may transfer to a recently created small business division.
Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg is investing heavily in AI as part of a broader shift in the company’s strategy. The firm plans to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion on AI, nearly double its previous capital spending.
In an internal memo, Chief People Officer Janelle Gale said the changes were linked to investment priorities. “This is not an easy tradeoff,” Gale wrote.
Zuckerberg has also pointed to the growing role of AI in reducing the need for large teams.
“We’re starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person,” he said earlier this year.
Other large technology companies are also reducing staff while investing in AI. Amazon has cut around 30,000 corporate roles in recent months, while Block has reduced its workforce by nearly half.
Microsoft has said it will offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of its U.S. workforce.
At Microsoft, Chief Executive Satya Nadella has said AI is already improving productivity. The company estimates that AI now contributes to a significant share of its coding work.
Mustafa Suleyman, the firm’s AI CEO, has said the technology could replace most white-collar roles within the next 12 to 18 months.
Job cuts across the technology sector have continued to rise this year.
Layoffs.fyi, which tracks industry redundancies, reports that more than 73,000 workers have lost their jobs worldwide so far this year. The total for 2024 was around 153,000.
Meta’s latest cuts would be its largest since a major restructuring in 2022 and 2023, when it removed about 21,000 roles during what it called its “year of efficiency”.
Despite the planned layoffs, Meta said it remains financially stable. The company generated more than $200 billion in revenue last year and recorded a profit of $60 billion. Its shares have risen slightly since the start of the year, although they remain below a peak reached last summer.
Executives have said the company is aiming for a structure with fewer management layers and greater efficiency, supported by AI systems.
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