Meta to Lay Off 3,600 Employees Globally Starting Monday

Cost-Cutting Measures Driven by AI Investment Expansion / AFP

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is set to implement a massive workforce reduction affecting approximately 3,600 employees worldwide. This move is part of the company’s ongoing strategy to streamline operations and allocate more resources toward artificial intelligence (AI) development and related technologies.

According to Reuters on February 7, Meta will begin notifying affected employees starting February 10 at 5 a.m. local time in each country. While countries like Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands will be exempt from this round of layoffs due to local labor regulations, employees across more than 12 countries in Europe, Asia, and Africa will receive layoff notices between February 11 and February 18. This restructuring primarily targets underperforming employees across Meta’s global offices, with the United States being one of the key regions affected.

Meta previously announced plans in January to lay off around 5% of its global workforce due to performance-related evaluations. Considering the company had approximately 72,000 employees as of Q3 2024, this reduction equates to about 3,600 job cuts. This is the largest workforce reduction since Meta’s major layoffs in 2022 and 2023, when the company cut 11,000 and 10,000 jobs, respectively. However, unlike previous rounds that involved office closures and the elimination of entire teams, the current restructuring will not result in the dissolution of any major organizational units.

Despite the layoffs, Meta remains committed to expanding its AI capabilities. The company will continue to hire aggressively for roles related to artificial intelligence, particularly machine learning engineers and other critical engineering positions. Peng Fan, Vice President of Monetization Engineering at Meta, emphasized in a recent internal memo the urgency of recruiting talent in these key areas to support the company’s growth initiatives in AI-driven technologies.

This trend is not unique to Meta. Other tech giants like Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, and Google are also restructuring their operations to focus on AI investments. As the demand for AI infrastructure grows, these companies are optimizing costs by reducing expenditures in non-core business areas. This shift reflects a broader industry movement where significant budget allocations are being redirected toward advanced AI development, cloud computing, and machine learning technologies to maintain competitive advantage in the rapidly evolving tech landscape.