Meta is planning sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company, three sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, as Meta seeks to offset costly artificial intelligence infrastructure bets and prepare for greater efficiency brought about by AI-assisted workers. No date has been set for the cuts and the magnitude has not been finalized, the people said.
Top executives have recently signaled the plans to other senior leaders at Meta and told them to begin planning how to pare back, two of the people said. Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said in response to questions about the plan: "This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches."
If Meta settles on the 20% figure, the layoffs will be the company's most significant since a restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023 that it dubbed the "year of efficiency." It employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to its latest filing. The company has said it plans to invest $600 billion to build data centers by 2028.
Zuckerberg has alluded to efficiency gains from the investments, saying in January he was starting to see "projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person." Meta's plans reflect a broader pattern among major U.S. companies, particularly in tech, this year. In January, Amazon confirmed it would cut some 16,000 jobs, amounting to nearly 10% of its workforce.
