Meta is cutting roughly 10% of its staff, totaling about 8,000 employees, to shore up its finances for more spending on artificial intelligence.
In a memo sent to staff, the company said the move was intended to “run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making.” People familiar with the matter told several outlets that Meta was also no longer planning to hire for 6,000 open positions.
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The author of the memo, Janelle Gale, Meta’s chief people officer, struck an apologetic tone to staff for the “incredibly unsettling” development. She said the layoffs would occur on May 20 but that those affected would receive “a generous severance package.”
“This is not an easy trade-off and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here,” Gale said.
The cuts come after Meta unveiled plans to double its capital spending to roughly $135 billion this year, with much of that going toward building AI data centers and hiring leaders in the AI field.
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Meta is scrambling to catch up to its rivals in the field after largely falling behind AI giants such as Anthropic and OpenAI.
The layoffs could just be the beginning for the company. Reuters reported that Meta plans to install tracking software to capture the mouse movements, clicks, keystrokes, and screen content to train AI models, a move many workers fear is the first step in replacing them.
