AI + ML
Staff protest over thorough inspection and mouse tracking of ’employee data extraction factory’
A major role reorganization at Meta begins today, with thousands of staff reportedly moving to AI-focused teams and managers being made redundant.
The tech giant is redeploying 7,000 employees to AI projects, cutting about 10% of its current workforce and eliminating 6,000 open positions, according to Reuters, which has seen a copy of an internal memo.
The personnel changes are the latest in a series of moves that began in 2022 and will affect about 20% of Meta’s approximately 78,000 employees.
Janelle Gale, Meta’s chief human resources officer, wrote a memo to affected staff. Some have already begun new AI-related missions, while others will be informed of their fate today, she said.
“As organizational leaders grapple with change, many have incorporated AI-native design principles into their new organizational structures,” Gale’s memo said.
“We are now at a stage where many organizations can operate with a flatter structure, with smaller teams in pods/cohorts that can move faster and with more ownership.”
This flatter structure involves some managers being fired or moved into job-creating roles instead of overseeing teams.
An earlier memo sent to staff in April said top engineers representing the company’s “strong software engineering talent” would be “selected” for new divisions within the company.
These included the Applied AI Engineering unit, Agent Transformation Accelerator unit, and Central Analytics.
Meta, which was once famous for letting its staff choose projects, said those chosen for this new AI mission will have no say in the matter.
“AAI is one of the company’s top priorities, and we are securing resources by moving some of our best and brightest to address this, so the move is not voluntary,” Maher Saba, vice president of engineering at AAI, said in response to employee questions.
Both AI units were created for engineers to develop AI agents that can automate and take over tasks previously performed by human employees.
The person transferred to Central Analytics will work on ways to measure productivity and analytics for agent development.
Another new division called Enterprise Solutions will be created soon, according to Gale’s memo, but Meta has not yet disclosed details. register Meta did not immediately respond to a request for a statement.
great flattening
Gale’s language about a “flatter structure” echoes language in Meta’s January earnings call in which chief Mark Zuckerberg promised to flatten the team over the next year.
“We are elevating individual contributors and flattening our teams,” Zack wrote in a Jan. 28 post-earnings note. “Projects that once required large teams are now being accomplished by a single, highly talented person.
“I want as many of these incredibly talented people as possible to choose Meta as the place where they can have the greatest impact, delivering personalized products to billions of people around the world. And if we can do this, we can accomplish more and have more fun.”
Around the same time, reports surfaced about major layoffs at the company, representing about 15,000 roles or 20% of its workforce, but it was unclear when or if they would occur.
Meta’s latest layoffs follow smaller layoffs in March that affected 700 positions across Reality Labs, social media, and recruiting.
The changes come as Meta is investing heavily in AI, with the company saying it plans to invest between $162 billion and $167 billion this year, up from $118 billion in 2025.
The company also reportedly tried to lure top AI talent to join its ranks with nine-figure paychecks and $100 million sign-on bonuses to former OpenAI players.
rebellion
The meta-role reduction to accommodate AI replacement sparked protests across the company’s Menlo Park headquarters and internal workspace communication platforms, Reuters reported.
Meta was first announced in April, saying it would track mouse clicks and keystrokes to train AI rather than evaluate staff productivity.
A company spokesperson told the BBC: “If we’re building agents to help people use computers to complete everyday tasks, our models need real-world examples of how people actually use computers.”
The data will not be used for any other purpose and safeguards are in place to protect sensitive content, they said.
But Meta staffers have expressed their disdain for the change in a variety of ways, including launching an online petition (which currently has more than 1,000 signatures) and posting flyers throughout its US offices calling the company an “employee data extraction factory.” ®
