Meta Platforms is preparing for a significant round of layoffs that could impact 20% or more of its workforce, according to three sources familiar with the matter. The reported cuts are part of the company’s strategy to balance massive investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure and adapt to a future where AI tools enable greater operational efficiency.
The sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the plans publicly, said no final decision has been made on the exact timing or magnitude of the reductions. However, top executives have recently signaled the plans to other senior leaders, instructing them to begin preparing for how to scale back their teams.
A Meta spokesperson pushed back on the report, stating, “This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches.”
If the company moves forward with cuts around the 20% figure, it would mark Meta’s most substantial workforce reduction since its “year of efficiency” restructuring in late 2022 and early 2023. According to its latest filings, Meta employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31.
The company previously laid off 11,000 employees in November 2022—about 13% of its workforce at the time—followed by another 10,000 job cuts just four months later.
Over the past year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has aggressively pushed Meta to compete in the generative AI space. The company has extended lucrative compensation packages, some worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years, to attract top AI researchers to a new superintelligence team. Meta has also announced plans to invest $600 billion in data center construction by 2028.
Earlier this week, the company acquired Moltbook, a social networking platform designed for AI agents. Additionally, Meta is spending at least $2 billion to acquire Chinese AI startup Manus.
Zuckerberg has previously hinted at the efficiency gains these investments could unlock, noting in January that he was beginning to see “projects that used to require big teams now be accomplished by a single very talented person.”
Meta’s reported plans align with a broader trend across major U.S. companies, particularly in the tech sector, where executives are citing recent advances in AI systems as a driver for organizational changes. In January, Amazon confirmed it would cut approximately 16,000 jobs, nearly 10% of its workforce. Last month, fintech company Block reduced its staff by nearly half, with CEO Jack Dorsey explicitly pointing to AI tools’ growing capability to enable companies to accomplish more with leaner teams.
The push for AI dominance comes after a series of setbacks for Meta’s Llama 4 models last year, including criticism that early versions delivered misleading benchmark results. The company ultimately abandoned the release of the largest version of that model, codenamed Behemoth, which had been scheduled for a summer debut. The superintelligence team has since been working on a new model called Avocado to reassert the company’s standing, but its performance has also fallen short of expectations.
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