Meta has confirmed it will slash 10% of its workforce, as outlined in an internal memo sent to employees on Thursday.
The 10% represents 8,000 of the company’s employees, which as of December 2025, was shy of 80,000. The confirmation follows days of internal speculation about detailed plans to shift its resources toward artificial intelligence while reducing operational costs.
The job slash, which is set to begin by May 20, is quickly followed by the closure of 6,000 job slots at the company, a move that signals the seriousness of AI optimization.
What has been confirmed: Meta cites efficiency and investment spend offset as reasons for cuts
News of the layoffs began with an internal memo that started circulating late last week.
As per The New York Times, confirmation came today from a Meta spokesperson, who declined to speak further on the issue.
In the internal memo to Meta employees cited by The New York Times, Meta’s Chief People Officer, Janelle Gale, wrote:
“We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making. This is not an easy trade-off, and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here.”
Stressing the reason for the action, Gale added, “I know this is unwelcome news, but we feel this is the best path forward, given the circumstances.”
Meta says affected employees won’t be notified until May 20
Currently, everyone at Meta is unsure of their fate until May 20, when Meta says it will notify affected employees.
The layoffs, Meta says, will come with a severance package for those in the US, which includes “16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for every year of employment.” That indicates that employees outside the US will be affected too, a trend we’ve seen in recent massive layoffs.
However, it also notes that employees outside the US will receive severance packages depending on their country.
A detail worth noting is that although affected employees will all be notified on the same day, their last days of work will be different.
Meta doubles down on AI investment as employees compete with new technology
In the same vein, the company is not just cutting jobs; it’s significantly slowing hiring. With 8,000 people leaving in May, Meta is also shutting the doors to the potential 6,000 people who could join the company soon.
That speaks volumes about how seriously the company is taking its AI efficiency race.
But there’s more. This isn’t the first time Meta will lay off in droves, and it’s likely not going to be the last. In the last few months, it’s undergone restructuring, resulting in the layoff of hundreds of employees and the redirection of some, especially its engineers, to focus more on AI.
The company is not just investing heavily in AI; it is attempting to recoup the money it’s spent on AI by having a smaller workforce dedicated to maximizing AI.
For employees who remain, it’s now a matter of either using AI so well or getting replaced by it.
Meta isn’t the only company rethinking its workforce as AI adoption continues. Read more about Microsoft’s retirement buy-out plan for employees.
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