Meta, Facebook's parent company, is reportedly pursuing a plan to cut more than 20% of its total workforce as it ramps up investment in artificial intelligence (AI).
Reuters reported on the 14th, citing sources, that Meta's top management instructed senior executives to draw up layoff plans. However, the timing and exact scale of the cuts have not yet been finalized.
Meta called the report "speculative."
As of late last year, Meta had about 79,000 employees. If 20% of the total workforce is cut, it would be the biggest restructuring since 2022.
Earlier, in Nov. 2022, Meta cut about 11,000 employees, roughly 13% of its total workforce, and in 2023 it also released an additional 10,000 job cuts.
News of the latest layoff push comes as Meta accelerates its expansion of AI investment. The company is pouring large sums into securing research talent and infrastructure to respond to the Generative AI race.
Meta plans to invest about $600 billion just to build data centers by 2028. Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has reportedly offered compensation packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars to recruit AI research talent.
Recently, it acquired the AI agent–based social media platform "moltbook," and there is also speculation it may spend about $2 billion to acquire Chinese AI startup Manus.
Meta's layoff push also aligns with the U.S. big tech trend of reshaping workforces as AI advances improve efficiency. Amazon in January released plans to cut about 16,000 jobs, roughly 10% of its total workforce, and payments corporations Block also said it would reduce more than 4,000 of its 10,000 employees, citing AI adoption.
Zuckerberg said in Jan. this year, "Projects that once required large teams are now being carried out by a single exceptionally strong individual."