The Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta wants to lay off almost ten percent of its workforce. According to an internal company email from human resources manager Janelle Gale on Thursday, 8,000 employees are to be laid off and 6,000 currently unfilled positions are to be eliminated. Gale justified the job cuts with the aim of “running the company more efficiently and balancing investments.” Meta is currently investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI).
In the email published by the financial service Bloomberg, among others, human resources manager Gale admitted that employees would now face four weeks of uncertainty. However, after leaks, it was decided to announce the basic outlines of the unfinished plans now.
Zuckerberg had already hinted at layoffs in January
At the end of December 2025, Meta employed a total of 78,865 people. At the end of 2022, Meta 11,000 jobs have already been cutfollowed by 10,000 additional jobs in March 2023. Between the end of 2023 and the end of 2025, more than 11,000 employees were added.
Meta boss Mark Zuckerberg had already hinted at possible savings through AI in January. “Projects that once required large teams are now handled by a single, very talented person,” he said.
At the same time, Meta is investing gigantic sums in the development and use of AI: This year, Meta expects capital expenditure to be between $115 billion and $135 billion. In February, Meta announced that it would be purchasing graphics processors on a large scale from chip manufacturer AMD, which are of central importance for AI in data centers.