Meta Platforms may be preparing for another major round of layoffs as the company looks for more efficiency while increasing spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure.
According to a Reuters report citing people familiar with the matter, Meta has discussed cutting up to 20 percent of its workforce. Based on the company’s headcount of nearly 79000 employees at the end of December, that could affect around 16000 workers.
Meta spokesperson Andy Stone called the report speculative and said it was based on theoretical approaches. Reuters also noted that no final decision has been made on the size or timing of any layoffs.
The report said senior executives have told other leaders to examine how teams and operations could be made leaner. If the cuts happen at the scale being discussed, it would become Meta’s biggest restructuring since the company eliminated more than 21000 jobs across 2022 and 2023 during its cost-cutting phase.
The possible layoffs come as CEO Mark Zuckerberg pushes Meta to move faster in the generative AI race.
At the same time, Morgan Stanley recently said the long-term effect of AI on jobs may not be as damaging as many fear. The bank said some roles will be automated, but most workers are not expected to be pushed out permanently. Instead, many people may move into new kinds of jobs, including roles that do not yet exist. In its view, AI is more likely to reshape work than fully replace it.
Still, several tech leaders have warned that many white-collar jobs that depend heavily on computers could be automated within the next 12 to 18 months.
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The broader tech industry is already seeing major workforce changes linked to AI investment. Oracle is reportedly planning to cut between 20000 and 30000 jobs as it expands AI data centre capacity, while Amazon has also announced layoffs affecting 16000 employees as part of its AI restructuring.
