Meta might lay off 8,000 employees on May 20
What's the story
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is gearing up for a major round of layoffs. The first wave is scheduled for May 20 and will affect nearly 10% of its global workforce or about 8,000 employees. This was revealed by three sources familiar with the company's plans who spoke to Reuters. Further layoffs are also expected in the second half of this year.
Future plans
Second round of layoffs expected later this year
The details of the second round of layoffs, including its timing and scale, are still being finalized. Executives may tweak their plans based on advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities. This comes after Reuters reported last month that Meta was considering laying off 20% or more of its global workforce. The company has yet to comment on these planned cuts.
Tech shift
Mark Zuckerberg's AI push
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is investing heavily in AI, hoping to transform his company's operations around this technology. This trend is also seen in other major US companies, especially those in the tech sector. Amazon recently laid off 30,000 corporate employees, nearly 10% of its white-collar workforce, while fintech firm Block cut almost half of its staff in February.
Past restructuring
Biggest layoffs since 'year of efficiency' restructuring
The layoffs this year will be Meta's biggest since its "year of efficiency" restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023, when it cut about 21,000 jobs. Despite the massive cuts back then, Meta managed to generate more than $200 billion in revenue last year and a profit of $60 billion. The company is in a better financial position this time around, but still envisions fewer management layers and greater efficiency through AI-assisted workers.
Staff reorganization
Meta reorganizes teams
As of December 31, Meta employed almost 79,000 people globally. Recently, the company has reorganized teams in its Reality Labs division and moved engineers into a new "Applied AI" organization. This unit is focused on speeding up the development of AI agents capable of coding and performing complex tasks autonomously. Some employees will also be transferred to Meta Small Business as part of this restructuring process.