A significant workforce reduction could be on the horizon at Meta, as the tech giant evaluates plans that may affect 20% or more of its employees, according to sources familiar with the matter who spoke to media. The potential move comes as the company looks to balance massive spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure while preparing for improved efficiency through AI-assisted work.
Sources said no timeline has been finalized and the exact scale of the layoffs remains undecided. However, senior executives have recently informed other leaders within the company to begin planning workforce reductions. The individuals shared the information anonymously because they were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly. Meta did not immediately comment on the development.
If the company proceeds with cuts of around 20%, it would mark its largest round of layoffs since the restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023, which the company called the “year of efficiency.” According to its latest filing, Meta had nearly 79,000 employees as of December 31. The company previously laid off 11,000 employees in November 2022, roughly 13% of its workforce at the time. About 4 months later, it announced another reduction of 10,000 jobs.
Over the past year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been pushing Meta to compete more aggressively in generative AI. The company has reportedly offered large compensation packages — some worth hundreds of millions of dollars over 4 years — to attract leading AI researchers to a new superintelligence team.
Meta has also announced plans to invest $600 billion by 2028 to expand data center infrastructure. Earlier this week, the company acquired Moltbook, a social networking platform built for AI agents. Additionally, Meta is spending at least $2 billion to acquire Chinese AI startup Manus, according to earlier reports.
Zuckerberg has hinted that these investments could drive efficiency improvements, stating in January that he is beginning to see “projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person.”
Meta’s plans reflect a wider trend among major U.S. technology companies adjusting their workforce strategies as AI capabilities grow. Earlier this year, Amazon confirmed plans to cut around 16,000 jobs, nearly 10% of its workforce.
Meanwhile, fintech company Block recently reduced nearly half of its staff, with CEO Jack Dorsey pointing to the rising capabilities of AI tools that allow companies to operate with smaller teams.
Meta’s AI push follows several challenges with its Llama 4 models last year. The models faced criticism over reportedly misleading benchmark results used for early versions. The company later abandoned the release of its largest version, Behemoth, which had been scheduled for the summer.
The company’s superintelligence team is now working to rebuild momentum by developing a new model called Avocado, although early performance has also reportedly fallen short of expectations.
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