Meta is laying off and reassigning employees to fuel its AI push

Meta is laying off 8,000 employees, about ten percent of its workforce, with notifications beginning in Singapore at 4 a.m. local time and later reaching Europe and the United States. At the same time, Meta is reassigning 7,000 employees to AI-related roles, including development of AI agents, apps, and infrastructure. The changes aim to free resources for further AI investment and reduce operational costs. The layoffs implement a ten percent reduction proposed by CEO Mark Zuckerberg on April 23. Meta’s 2025 capital expenditures totaled $72.2 billion, while 2026 spending is expected to reach at least $115 billion, largely for Nvidia hardware and data center infrastructure. The layoffs primarily target support functions such as HR, marketing, communications, and recruitment, while engineering and AI research are largely unaffected, and 6,000 open positions will not be filled.

"Meta is beginning to lay off 8,000 employees this week, about ten percent of its total workforce. Singapore was the first to receive the layoff email, at 4 a.m. local time. At the same time, Meta reassigned 7,000 employees to AI-related roles. The move has been in the works for some time and is intended to free up resources for further investment in AI infrastructure. The Singapore office was the first to receive the notification, with European and American employees following later."

"The layoffs are the practical implementation of the announcement CEO Mark Zuckerberg made on April 23. In that announcement, he proposed a ten percent reduction, driven by the desire to cut operational costs and allow AI investments to reach record highs. Meta's capital expenditures for 2025 totaled $72.2 billion; for 2026, the company expects at least $115 billion, with the majority earmarked for Nvidia hardware and data center infrastructure."

"The layoff of 8,000 employees is just one side of the reorganization. The other side unfolded on Monday, when Chief People Officer Janelle Gale announced via an internal memo that Meta is reassigning 7,000 employees to AI-related roles. This includes the development of AI agents, apps, and infrastructure. In other words: an attempt to implement roles that AI could perform."

"The April 23 announcement revealed that the layoffs primarily affect support roles. HR, marketing, communications, and recruitment are particularly hard hit. Engineering and AI research teams remain largely unaffected. Meta also announced that 6,000 open positions will not be filled. Earlier in 2026, Meta had already carried out several rounds of restructuring."

Read at Techzine Global