Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) is cutting approximately 10% of its workforce as CEO Mark Zuckerberg pivots the social media giant toward a high-stakes artificial intelligence race, prioritizing massive infrastructure spending over headcount.
The company notified employees in an internal memo that it will eliminate roughly 8,000 positions, effective May 20, 2026.
In addition to the layoffs, Meta will close 6,000 open roles.
Chief People Officer Janelle Gale, who authored the memo, characterized the move as a necessity to offset the company’s aggressive investment cycle.
The workforce reduction follows a "significant acceleration" in infrastructure expenses, as Meta’s capital expenditure guidance for 2026 has ballooned to a range of $115 billion to $135 billion—nearly double the $72 billion spent in 2025.
The restructuring signals a definitive end to the "Year of Efficiency" era, moving from targeted cuts in divisions like Reality Labs toward a companywide realignment.
Resources are being funneled into the newly formed Applied AI Engineering division, which is tasked with developing autonomous coding agents.
Internal initiatives have already begun encouraging employees to use AI agents for technical tasks, a move that analysts suggest may further reduce the need for traditional engineering roles over time.
Despite the headcount reduction, Meta remains in a historically strong financial position.
The company ended the previous fiscal year with over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in net profit.
However, CFO Susan Li has warned investors that the rapid expansion of data centers and the depreciation of AI-related hardware will weigh heavily on operating costs.
The current cuts represent the largest single reduction since the 21,000 jobs eliminated during the 2022–2023 restructuring.
Affected U.S. employees will receive a severance package including 16 weeks of base pay, plus two additional weeks for every year of service, and 18 months of COBRA health insurance premiums.
The company is also providing job placement assistance and immigration support where applicable.
Gale noted in the memo that the early announcement was forced by media leaks, acknowledging the "uneasy state" the news creates for the remaining 71,000 employees.
While the May 20 cuts are the most substantial of the year so far, the internal restructuring may not be over.
Reports indicate that a second round of job cuts is anticipated later in 2026, though the specific scale and timeline for those further reductions have not yet been finalized.