Thousands of Meta employees were laid off as part of a massive company restructuring (Image: AP)
Meta has reportedly laid off thousands of employees as the company seeks to recoup its hefty AI investments.
Impacted employees were told via email that the planned headcount reduction was part of the company’s “continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making.” There were rumors of an upcoming wave of layoffs starting in March, but at the time, Meta was believed to be cutting up to 20% of the company’s headcount.
According to a recent memo shared earlier this month, the layoffs are now believed to be impacting approximately 8,000 people – about 10% of Meta’s 78,000 workforce.
The layoffs come as Meta predicted in January that it would spend between $115 billion and $135 billion in capital expenditures in 2026, to support “our Meta Superintelligence Labs efforts and core business.”
That is almost double the $72.22 billion the company spent in 2025. Alongside cutting active roles, Meta is also moving more than 7,000 staffers to work on new AI initiatives, Business Insider reported.
The company spent billions on AI investments (Image: AP)
Another 6,000 open roles are being closed, reported Bloomberg. “We want to say again that we’re grateful for your contributions. Your impact at Meta has been an important part of our story,” Meta said in the memo to impacted staffers.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg thanked the impacted employees in a separate memo, adding that there should be additional cuts in 2026. “Success isn’t given,” he warned.
“AI is the most consequential technology of our lifetimes. The companies that lead the way will define the next generation.”
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Mark Zuckerberg was mocked online for his memo thanking impacted staffers (Image: AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)
Zuckerberg’s memo was shared online, where the billionaire was ridiculed for the language he used to share the decision to put thousands of workers out of a job.
“Patting himself on the back for being able to ‘make tough choices,’ how brave of him,” wrote one person. “That will be comforting at the bread line.”
Another person called Zuckerberg’s statement an “absolute masterclass in corporate slop,” adding that it “literally could not have been more poorly written.”
Others accused Zuckerberg of using AI to write the memo, with one person joking, “He forgot to run it through his AI using a ‘make me seem more human’ prompt.”
Meta’s layoffs are part of a broader pattern across the technology industry as companies continue to pour billions into AI while reducing traditional roles. Companies such as Microsoft, Amazon, Google, and Oracle have all announced major job cuts or restructuring tied to AI investment and automation efforts in 2026.
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