Meta Platforms plans to cut about 10 percent of its global workforce, eliminating roughly 8,000 jobs next month, as the social media giant seeks greater efficiency to offset massive investments in artificial intelligence.
The layoffs, set to take effect on May 20, were announced internally on Thursday and will be accompanied by the scrapping of around 6,000 open positions, according to a memo from chief people officer Janelle Gale.
“We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making,” Gale said in the memo. “This is not an easy trade-off and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here.”
The cuts come as Meta ramps up spending on AI infrastructure, including data centres, with capital expenditures projected between US$115 billion and US$135 billion for the current fiscal year. The company is competing fiercely in the race toward “superintelligence” alongside rivals such as OpenAI, Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg has made advancing personal superintelligence a priority. “I’m looking forward to advancing personal superintelligence for people around the world in 2026,” he said during a recent earnings call.
The tech giant currently employs around 78,000 people. The latest round follows several smaller job reductions in recent years as Meta shifts resources away from earlier bets, such as the metaverse, toward generative AI and related technologies.
Analysts expect the efficiency drive to help control costs, which rose 40 percent in the latest quarter to US$35.15 billion, while still supporting growth in advertising and new products like AI-powered smartglasses.
The announcement has heightened concerns in the technology sector, where AI-driven productivity gains are increasingly cited as a reason for workforce reductions.
Meta has not specified which teams will be most affected. Affected employees are expected to receive further details in the coming weeks.
