Meta may have large-scale layoffs because of AI

Meta is planning large-scale layoffs, which could affect up to 20% of staff, according to Reuters. This move is intended to offset the growing cost of investment in AI infrastructure, while many jobs are supported by AI. However, the implementation time and scale of the cuts have not yet been decided.

According to Reuters, two sources said Meta leaders announced this plan to senior managers and asked them to prepare a plan to streamline personnel. The informants requested anonymity because they were not authorized to publish internal plans.

Responding to this information, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said this was “journalistic speculation about theoretical options”.

By the end of 2025, the parent company of social network Facebook has nearly 79,000 employees. If a cut of about 20% is approved, this will be Meta’s largest layoff since the restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023. In November 2022, Meta laid off 11,000 employees, equivalent to 13% of the workforce at that time. Four months later, the company continued to announce another 10,000 job cuts.

Over the past year, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has increasingly focused his attention on generative AI. The company offers large compensation packages, even worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years, to attract top AI researchers to its “super intelligence” development team.

Just a few days ago, the company acquired Moltbook, a social networking platform designed for AI agents. Previously, Meta also spent at least $2 billion to acquire Manus – a Chinese AI startup.

Zuckerberg believes that AI investments will help increase operational efficiency. In January, he said he began to see that “projects that previously required large teams could now be completed by one very talented individual.”

Meta’s plan reflects a broader trend at large businesses in the US, especially in the technology industry, as AI is increasingly used to optimize resources.

In January, Amazon confirmed it would cut about 16,000 jobs, equivalent to nearly 10% of its workforce. By February, fintech company Block also cut nearly half of its staff, the reason given by CEO Jack Dorsey was that AI tools increasingly help businesses do more work with smaller teams.