meta The company today began laying off about 8,000 employees globally, while also transferring about 7,000 employees to a new organization focused on AI, according to an internal memo first reported. Reuters.
The restructuring affected nearly one-fifth of the company’s workforce through layoffs, transfers and role reductions, highlighting how aggressively Facebook’s parent company is reorganizing around artificial intelligence infrastructure and automation.
On Wednesday, employees across North America were told to work from home as the process progresses. The notice of job cuts was to begin at 4 a.m. local time and be rolled out in stages across multiple regions, according to a memo seen by Reuters.
The company had 77,986 employees at the end of March, according to regulatory filings.
AI teams will be at the center of meta reorganization
The headcount reductions will involve a major internal reorganization aimed at expanding Meta’s AI business and flattening its traditional management structure.
The memo, seen by Reuters, said: Janelle GaleMeta’s chief human resources officer told employees that the company plans to deploy 7,000 staff to initiatives tied directly to AI workflows while eliminating layers of management across multiple teams.
Gale said the organization’s leaders redesigned their teams using “AI-native design principles” to create smaller steering groups that could move faster with fewer managers.
According to Reuters, the reassigned employees have been assigned to projects such as:
• Applied AI Engineering (AAI)
• Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA) XFN
• Central analysis
• Enterprise solutions
Some of these initiatives were previously outlined by Meta CTO. andrew bosworth This comes as part of the company’s broader ‘AI for Work’ strategy.
The team is focused on developing AI agents designed to automate tasks currently performed internally by human employees.
Thousands of roles removed or frozen
In parallel with the layoffs and internal transfers, Meta has frozen or eliminated approximately 6,000 open positions that were previously included in its hiring plan.
The main figures related to the reorganization are as follows.
• Approximately 8,000 employees will be laid off today.
• Approximately 7,000 employees will be redeployed to AI-focused departments.
• Approximately 6,000 vacant positions will be removed from the recruitment plan.
• Nearly 20% of Meta’s workforce will be affected overall.
Some employee moves had already taken place before Wednesday’s layoffs, while others will be announced along with the layoff notices, Reuters reported.
U.S. employees affected by the layoffs are expected to receive the following benefits:
• 16 weeks basic salary
• 2 extra weeks every time you work at Meta.
• Ongoing medical support
• Job change support
Non-U.S. employees are expected to receive severance packages consistent with local labor laws and market-specific schedules.
Driving AI investments will reshape corporate priorities
The rebuild is done as follows mark zuckerberg Spending on AI infrastructure and model development is skyrocketing.
Meta projects capital expenditures to be between $125 billion and $145 billion in 2026, with much of that spending going toward AI data centers, custom silicon, and large-scale model training.
In the company’s latest earnings call, the CFO said: Susan Lee As AI tools continue to change productivity expectations across businesses, Meta said he is still considering what his ideal workforce size should be.
The shift also reflects a broader trend across the technology sector, where companies are increasing investment in AI-related products and infrastructure while reducing headcount in traditional roles.
Internal tensions deepen over surveillance tools
The restructuring has raised employee concerns about workplace oversight and transparency.
Reuters reported that more than 1,000 employees have signed a petition objecting to Meta’s use of mouse and keystroke tracking software designed to help train AI systems that replicate human computer behavior.
The internal tool, known as the Model Capability Initiative, drew criticism from employees concerned about privacy and surveillance concerns.
After Reuters first reported the plans several weeks ago, employees also publicly challenged the internal workplace platform’s leadership over Meta’s handling of the layoffs.
According to Reuters, some employees responded to executives’ posts with images of elephants, urging leaders to address what employees described as “the elephant in the room.”
Another Times of India report cited blind data from an anonymous workplace platform showing that employee satisfaction and culture ratings at Mehta have fallen significantly from 2024 levels amid restructuring uncertainty.
Further cuts could follow later this year
The layoffs may not be the end of Meta’s job cuts.
Company executives have already warned employees that further restructuring could occur later this year, including one in August, according to internal discussions cited by Reuters and the Times of India.
Zuckerberg recently described AI as “probably one of the most competitive fields in history,” reinforcing Meta’s intention to restructure key parts of the company around artificial intelligence capabilities.
I’m fired today lolMeta’s AI push is no longer limited to products and infrastructure. The company is currently restructuring the way it hires, manages teams and allocates work across the organization.
