Media: Meta to cut nearly 8,000 jobs in initial round of layoffs

Meta is preparing to carry out the first wave of a broad round of layoffs on May 20 as part of a wider workforce reduction plan for 2026, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters.

The parent company of Facebook and Instagram is expected to cut around 10% of its global workforce in the initial phase, equivalent to nearly 8,000 employees, according to one of the sources. Additional layoffs are planned for the second half of the year, although the timing and scale of those reductions have not yet been finalised. The sources noted that executives may adjust the plans depending on developments in artificial intelligence capabilities.

Reuters previously reported that Meta could ultimately reduce 20% or more of its global workforce. The company declined to comment on the timing or extent of the planned cuts.

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg is investing hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence as part of a broader effort to fundamentally reshape the company’s operations around the technology. This reflects a wider trend across major US corporations, particularly in the technology sector, where companies are increasingly linking job cuts to efficiency gains driven by AI.

Amazon has reduced its corporate workforce by 30,000 employees in recent months—nearly 10% of its white-collar staff—while fintech firm Block cut almost half of its workforce in February. In both cases, executives cited efficiency improvements enabled by artificial intelligence.

According to Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking global technology sector job cuts, 73,212 employees have been laid off so far this year, compared with a total of 153,000 layoffs recorded throughout 2024.

The planned reductions at Meta would mark its most significant layoffs since the restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023, which the company described as its “year of efficiency,” during which approximately 21,000 jobs were eliminated. At that time, Meta was facing a sharp decline in its stock price and grappling with overexpansion driven by unsustainable growth assumptions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In contrast, the company is currently in a stronger financial position. Meta generated more than $200 billion in revenue last year and posted a profit of $60 billion, despite heavy spending on artificial intelligence initiatives. Its shares have risen 3.68% since the beginning of the year, although they remain below the record high reached last summer.

As of December 31, Meta employed nearly 79,000 people globally, according to its latest regulatory filing.

Internally, the company is undergoing structural changes aimed at improving efficiency and reducing layers of management, with a growing reliance on AI-assisted workflows. In recent weeks, Meta has reorganised teams within its Reality Labs division and reassigned engineers across the company to a newly created “Applied AI” unit focused on accelerating the development of autonomous AI agents capable of writing code and performing complex tasks.

As part of the restructuring, some employees are also expected to be reassigned to Meta Small Business, a unit established last month, one of the sources said.

By Tamilla Hasanova