Meta to fire 8,000 employees in May, more layoffs to come as company invests in AI

According to a report by Reuters, the company plans to reduce about 10 percent of its workforce in the initial wave of layoffs on May 20. Sources told the outlet that additional layoffs are expected later in the year, though details have not yet been finalized.

The cuts come as Meta, led by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, continues to invest billions of dollars into artificial intelligence, committing significant resources to expand its AI capabilities. The shift reflects a broader trend across the tech industry, as companies restructure to prioritize automation. Amazon has taken a similar approach, cutting about 30,000 corporate employees in recent restructuring efforts, representing nearly 10 percent of its white-collar workforce.

The upcoming layoffs mark Meta’s largest restructuring since 2022 and 2023, when the company declared a “year of efficiency” that saw roughly 21,000 jobs eliminated. At the time, Meta’s stock was under pressure following the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the company’s financial position has improved, with shares up about 3.68 percent since the start of the year, Meta appears to be continuing its push for increased efficiency at the hands of AI. The company has reported more than $200 billion in revenue last year and approximately $60 billion in profit.

As part of its restructuring, the company has recently reorganized its Reality Labs division and shifted engineers into a newly formed “Applied AI” group focused on accelerating the development of AI agents capable of writing code and completing complex tasks.