Meta to cut 8,000 jobs as AI spending soars

Chief People Officer Janelle Gale writes in a memo that layoffs will total around 10% of the company and occur on May 20, with about 6,000 open roles to be closed. She notes the decision is to run the company more efficiently and offset other investments, and acknowledges the information leaked in advance. The memo details severance in the US (16 weeks base pay plus two weeks per year of employment), 18 months of COBRA health coverage for US employees and families, and offers career services and immigration support. It also states that more details will be shared later in May and instructs affected staff to ensure their personal email is updated for notifications, with info on the People Portal for FAQs.

Reuters reports that Meta will lay off about 10% of its global workforce, or roughly 8,000 employees, in May, with 10% in the initial round and more rounds possible; the job cuts are part of a broader efficiency drive.

Reuters reports that in March 2026 Meta is planning to lay off 20% or more of its global workforce.

The memo to employees on Thursday was first reported by Bloomberg.

The upcoming jobs cuts will be Meta's largest layoff since 2023.

Meta informed employees that it would begin tracking and logging their interactions with work computers to help train and improve its AI models.

Meta says it will spend about $135 billion on AI this year, roughly equal to the amount spent on AI in the previous three years combined.

Meta informs employees via memo on Thursday that it plans to cut about 8,000 jobs (roughly 10% of its workforce) and will not fill thousands of open positions.

Reuters reported that Meta was planning to cut potentially more than 10,000 employees this year.

Mark Zuckerberg said in January that 2026 would be the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work.

Since 2022, Meta has enacted several rounds of job cuts; the company started hiring again and last year its overall number of employees looked to be around the same as before the initial layoff.