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Meta is planning to lay off 20% of its staff or more as the company continues to invest aggressively in AI, Reuters reports.
The timeline for the layoffs or the extent of the job cuts is yet to be finalized. Top executives, however, have informed senior managers of the decision and asked them to prepare for the scale back, sources tell Reuters.
The reason for the job cuts is unclear. However, the company has been directing a significant part of its resources toward developing AI infrastructure and acquiring AI startups. “This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
In recent months, the company has been unhappy with internal matters being leaked to the media. After CEO Mark Zuckerberg addressed the issue at an all-hands meeting last year, the company issued an internal memo warning employees of strict action against leakers. Interestingly, even that memo got leaked, and the company fired nearly 20 employees after investigations.
According to Meta’s latest financial report, the company’s headcount stood at 78,865 on Dec. 31. If Meta eliminates 20% of its staff, roughly 15,000 people could lose their jobs. The report arrives just months after the company laid off hundreds of workers from its Metaverse division in January.
Meta has had layoffs almost every year since 2022. It laid off 11,000 employees that year, and another 10,000 in 2023. The company then cut an unconfirmed number of jobs in 2024 and around 5%, or around 3,600 people, in a round of performance-based layoffs last year.
Meta isn’t the only big tech firm making job cuts. Amazon cut around 14,000 jobs in October and another 16,000 in January.