Meta Reportedly Planning Major Layoffs, 20% of Staff at Risk

Meta is reportedly contemplating significant layoffs that could impact 20% or more of its global workforce, according to information from Reuters.

These potential job cuts are believed to be a strategic move by the Facebook parent company to mitigate the financial impact of its aggressive investments in AI infrastructure, as well as its related acquisitions and hiring initiatives. As of December 31, Meta’s employee count stood at nearly 79,000, as detailed in a recent company filing.

While TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for an official statement, a company spokesperson previously informed Reuters that their story constituted "speculative reporting about theoretical approaches."

This report emerges amidst a wave of layoff announcements from numerous tech firms, most recently Block, with many companies citing the necessity of such reductions as artificial intelligence automates an increasing amount of work. Conversely, some industry commentators and even executives, such as OpenAI's Sam Altman, have suggested that many of these workforce reductions could be a form of "AI-washing," where companies leverage AI as a convenient justification for addressing other internal issues, including over-hiring during the pandemic era.

Meta last executed layoffs of this scale in November 2022, when it eliminated 11,000 jobs, followed by a further reduction of 10,000 positions in March 2023.