Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta plans to lay off 10% of its workforce in a companywide bloodbath next month – with even more cuts to follow later in the year, according to a report Friday.
The Instagram parent will ax nearly 8,000 employees in the initial round set for May 20, Reuters reported. More layoffs are expected in the second half of the year, but Meta executives have yet to decide how extensive they will be or exactly when they will occur.
Meta’s plans could be adjusted based on the state of the company’s artificial intelligence capabilities, sources ominously told the outlet.
The bloodbath is unfolding as Zuckerberg shifts more resources toward the development of AI. Meta, which is scrambling to keep pace with rivals like Anthropic and OpenAI, has teed up $135 billion in capital spending this year alone.
Last month, Reuters reported that Meta was planning to cut more than 20% of its workforce this year, potentially affecting some 15,000 workers. That would be Meta’s most extensive job cuts since Zuckerberg slashed more than 20,000 jobs in late 2022 and early 2023 as part of its infamous “year of efficiency” push.
A Meta spokesperson previously said that the initial Reuters article was a “speculative report about theoretical approaches.”
The company’s stock rose nearly 2% in Friday trading.
The social media giant had nearly 79,000 employees globally as of Dec. 31, according to company filings.
Zuckerberg has set about integrating AI tools into every facet of Meta’s business – to the point that the company is even developing a “photorealistic” 3D clone of the billionaire to chat with employees.
The layoffs at Meta are just the latest sign of AI-related upheaval that has swept through the tech industry in recent months.
Instagram rival Snap slashed about 1,000 jobs earlier this week, with CEO Evan Spiegel stating that AI would “enable our teams to reduce repetitive work, increase velocity, and better support our community, partners, and advertisers.”
Elsewhere, financial tech firm Block said in February it would cut 40% of its workforce, or more than 4,000 employees, while pivoting to a full embrace of AI tools.
“Within the next year, I believe the majority of companies will reach the same conclusion and make similar structural changes. I’d rather get there honestly and on our own terms than be forced into it reactively,” Block CEO Jack Dorsey wrote in an open letter.
Amazon axed an eye-popping 30,000 corporate jobs last fall while embracing AI to boost productivity.
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