Meta cuts 10% of staff, cancels 6,000 open roles in AI efficiency push

Meta Platforms Inc. told staff today that it is planning to lay off about 8,000 employees, or roughly 10% of its workforce and cancel 6,000 open roles in an efficiency drive aimed at offsetting a massive surge in artificial intelligence spending.

The cuts take effect on May 20 and according to Bloomberg, were disclosed in an internal memo from Meta Chief People Officer Janelle Gale. In the memo, Gale reportedly wrote that the reductions would allow Meta to “run the company more efficiently” and “offset the other investments we’re making.”

The reduction in headcount is Meta’s largest since the 21,000-plus job cuts the company pushed through in 2022 and 2023, a period Zuckerberg called a “year of efficiency.”

Meta’s capital expenditure guidance for 2026 sits as high as $135 billion, nearly double 2025’s roughly $72 billion, with the bulk earmarked for data centers, custom silicon and other AI infrastructure. Meta still trails OpenAI Group PBC, Google LLC and Anthropic PBC in generative AI.

The layoffs are said to be structural rather than performance-based, with Meta reportedly reorganizing remaining teams into AI-focused “pods” and moving engineers from across the business into its Applied AI organization.

U.S. workers affected by the cuts will receive 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, along with 18 months of health coverage.

Meta Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had previously laid out the logic behind the new cuts on Meta’s January earnings call, when he told analysts that “we’re starting to see projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person.” Meta has steadily pushed internal tools that use its Llama models to write code, generate marketing copy and handle customer support work.

The new job cuts have been generally welcomed by Wall Street. Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors that Meta’s strategy is to use AI tools to “automate tasks that once required large teams, allowing the company to streamline operations and reduce costs while maintaining productivity, driving an increased need for a leaner operating structure.”

Today’s announcement is the third round of Meta job cuts in 2026.

The first round came in January, when Meta cut about 1,500 Reality Labs staff, or roughly 10% of the virtual and augmented reality unit, in cuts confirmed in an internal post from Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth that also closed four internal virtual reality game studios. In March, the company cut about 700 more staff across Reality Labs, Facebook, recruiting, sales and global operations.

Meta’s latest round of layoffs continues a trend that has seen tech employers slash jobs as AI continues to mature. Approximately 95,000 tech workers have been laid off in 2026 to date, led by Oracle Corp.’s 30,000-person cut and Amazon.com Inc.’s elimination of 16,000 roles in January, with analysts attributing close to half of the cuts directly to AI-driven automation.

Photo: Meta