(Image source from: IANS)
A large technology company in the US, Meta, is planning major job cuts that might affect 20% or more of its staff, which is around 16,000 workers. This move is part of an effort to manage increasing expenses related to artificial intelligence infrastructure and to enhance efficiency through AI-supported work, as reported by Reuters.
However, the report mentioned that there is no set schedule for when these job cuts might happen, and the exact number of layoffs is still being debated. People familiar with the situation indicated that higher-ups have recently communicated these plans to other leaders and asked them to start preparing for possible job reductions. When asked about this, Meta representative Andy Stone stated, “This is speculative reporting about theoretical approaches. " As of December 31, the company's latest official filing showed that Meta had close to 79,000 employees.
If the company goes ahead with reducing 20% of its staff, about 16,000 workers could be affected. This would mark the most significant job drop at Meta since Mark Zuckerberg revealed a major reorganization during what he called the "year of efficiency" in 2022 and early 2023. In November 2022, Meta laid off around 11,000 employees, which was about 13% of its workforce at the time. Roughly four months afterward, the company announced another round of layoffs impacting nearly 10,000 workers. Over the last year, Zuckerberg has been encouraging the company to compete strongly in the generative AI sector. Meta has been providing attractive pay packages — some said to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years — to draw in top AI researchers for its newly formed superintelligence team. The company has also stated plans to invest as much as $600 billion in building data center facilities by 2028 to support its AI goals.
Earlier this week, Meta bought Moltbook, a social networking site made for AI agents. The company is also reportedly spending at least $2 billion to acquire a Chinese AI startup named Manus. Zuckerberg has suggested that AI could greatly boost productivity. In January, he mentioned noticing “projects that used to require large teams now being handled by one very skilled individual. " Meta's strong push in AI comes after challenges with its Llama 4 models last year. The company received criticism for delivering questionable benchmark results for earlier versions of the model. It also postponed launching the largest version of the model, known as Behemoth, which was expected to debut in the summer. Currently, Meta’s superintelligence team is working on a new model named Avocado to enhance its AI abilities, though the system’s performance has reportedly not met expectations yet, causing delays in its launch.
In January, Amazon confirmed that it would eliminate around 16,000 jobs, which is nearly 10% of its total workforce. Last month, fintech company Block also reduced its staff by nearly half, with CEO Jack Dorsey specifically attributing this to advancements in AI tools allowing companies to function with smaller teams.
