- Meta Platforms may cut up to 20% of its workforce amid AI spending and efficiency goals
- Potential layoffs could impact about 16,000 employees, based on current staff numbers
- Meta has not confirmed plans and describes reports as speculative about possible strategies
Meta Platforms could be preparing for another major round of layoffs as the company ramps up spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and seeks greater operational efficiency, according to a Reuters report citing people familiar with the matter. The potential cuts could affect up to 20% or more of the company's workforce, though no final decision has been taken on the scale or timing of the layoffs, Reuters reported citing three sources with knowledge of the discussions.
If implemented at that level, the job cuts could affect roughly 16,000 employees, based on Meta's workforce of nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to the company's latest regulatory filing.
Meta has not confirmed the plans. In response to queries cited by Reuters, company spokesperson Andy Stone described the report as "speculative reporting about theoretical approaches."
Internal Planning Discussions Underway
According to Reuters, senior executives at Meta have recently signalled potential workforce reductions to other leaders within the organisation and asked teams to begin considering how operations could be streamlined.
While the plans remain under discussion, the scale being considered would make it Meta's largest restructuring since the layoffs of 2022 and 2023, when the company eliminated more than 21,000 jobs during a cost-cutting drive dubbed the "year of efficiency."
Meta laid off about 11,000 employees in November 2022, or roughly 13% of its workforce at the time, and announced another 10,000 job cuts about four months later.
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AI Spending Accelerates Under Zuckerberg
The reported restructuring comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushes Meta to compete more aggressively in the fast-growing generative AI space. Over the past year, the company has been recruiting leading AI researchers, with Reuters previously reporting that some compensation packages offered to top talent could run into hundreds of millions of dollars over four years.
Meta has also outlined ambitious infrastructure plans. The company has said it intends to invest up to $600 billion by 2028 to build new data centres supporting AI workloads, according to the Reuters report. In addition, Reuters has reported that Meta is spending at least $2 billion to acquire Chinese AI startup Manus, while it recently purchased Moltbook, a social networking platform designed for AI agents.
Zuckerberg has also highlighted the productivity benefits of AI, saying earlier this year that projects which once required large teams can increasingly be completed by "a single very talented person."
AI Setbacks and Industry-Wide Shift
Meta's aggressive AI push follows several challenges in its own model development efforts. According to Reuters, the company faced criticism last year over benchmark claims tied to early versions of its Llama 4 models and later cancelled the release of its largest version, called Behemoth.
The company's AI unit is now working on a new model internally called Avocado, though Reuters reported its performance has yet to meet expectations. The potential layoffs also reflect a broader trend across the tech industry, where companies are restructuring workforces as AI tools become more capable.
Reuters noted that Amazon confirmed earlier this year it would cut around 16,000 jobs, while fintech firm Block recently reduced nearly half its staff, with CEO Jack Dorsey citing AI-driven productivity improvements.
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