Meta Cuts Thousands of Jobs Across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Facebook Parent Company as AI Investment Drives Mass Layoffs
- Meta plans to cut approximately 10 percent of its global workforce, affecting about 8,000 employees, as part of a broader restructuring effort focused on artificial intelligence investments.
- The company will also close 6,000 open roles that remain unfilled, according to an internal memo shared with employees on Thursday.
- Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, employed more than 78,000 people at the end of 2025, making the planned reductions equivalent to roughly one in ten positions.
Meta plans to cut approximately 10 percent of its global workforce, affecting about 8,000 employees, as part of a broader restructuring effort focused on artificial intelligence investments.
The company will also close 6,000 open roles that remain unfilled, according to an internal memo shared with employees on Thursday.
Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, employed more than 78,000 people at the end of 2025, making the planned reductions equivalent to roughly one in ten positions.
Chief People Officer Janelle Gale stated in the memo that the layoffs are part of Meta’s continued effort to operate more efficiently and offset other investments the company is making in AI development.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, has emphasized his expectation that much of the work in the technology industry will eventually be overtaken by AI-powered systems, including coding assistants that assist engineers in writing software.
The reorganization reflects Zuckerberg’s strategic shift to center Meta around AI products amid intense competition with rivals such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic.
Meta has described its vision for developing AI-powered social media products as a form of “personal superintelligence” intended for integration into users’ daily lives.
The layoffs align with broader trends across the technology sector, where companies including Block and Microsoft have also announced workforce reductions tied to AI investments.
In February, Block reported plans to cut 40 percent of its workforce as it adopted new AI tools, while Microsoft offered buyouts to 7 percent of its staff on the same day as Meta’s announcement.
A Meta spokesman confirmed the workforce reductions but declined to provide further comment on the specifics of the implementation.
The initial wave of layoffs is targeted for May 20, 2026, with additional rounds expected later in the year according to sources familiar with the plan.
Earlier in March, Meta had already reduced staff by approximately 700 workers across divisions including Reality Labs, recruiting, sales and Facebook.