Meta laid off nearly 8,000 people, stopping 6,000 vacancies

In an email sent to employees on April 23, Bloomberg and Business Insider collected, Meta’s Chief Human Resources Officer Janella Gale said that normally they would finalize the details of the plan before making it public, but because the information was leaked, the company decided to “share what it can at this time”.

Accordingly, the cuts will begin from May 20, while canceling the ongoing recruitment plan for about 6,000 positions. Those affected will receive a severance package consisting of 16 weeks of base salary plus an additional 2 weeks for each year of service.

“I understand this is unwanted news and confirmation makes people feel uneasy, but we believe this is the most appropriate direction in the current context,” Ms. Gale wrote in an email. “Almost a month of waiting will leave everyone feeling confused, but because we’re still finalizing details, we can’t share much until the end of May.”

She explained Meta’s move as “part of an ongoing effort to operate the company more efficiently and offset other investments.” These amounts are not specifically stated, but Meta is spending hundreds of billions of dollars on AI, such as investing heavily in large-scale data centers or attractive compensation packages for leading AI researchers.

This large-scale cut comes after a number of smaller staff streamlinings. For example, in January, Meta laid off 10% of employees at metaverse-related projects, including 1,000 people at Reality Labs. Another wave began in March, affecting hundreds of employees at Facebook, Reality Labs, global operations and sales. Last month, Meta also said it would reduce its reliance on third-party providers, which handle content moderation, to use AI.

Meta did not provide comments. Company shares decreased 2.4% in the trading session on April 23.

Workforce streamlining is reportedly on the rise across the tech industry as companies adjust to the AI ​​wave. Microsoft also confirmed on April 23 that it will offer a voluntary layoff package for employees in the US for the first time. A source familiar with the plan said about 7% of eligible people are participating.

In January, Amazon announced it was cutting 16,000 positions, marking the second large-scale layoff since October last year.

In its annual report released in January, Meta said it had 78,865 employees globally as of December 31, 2025, down from 86,482 at the end of 2022 – a period of massive hiring for the technology industry. At the end of 2020, the company’s global workforce was 58,604.

This week, Meta also emailed internally that it was using a new tracking tool called the “Model Capability Initiative” to collect data when employees use their work computers. A company spokesperson confirmed this data, which includes keystrokes and mouse clicks, is needed to train the AI ​​agent.