Meta Layoffs highlights: Here’s what Meta has offered to laid-off employees

When Mark Zuckerberg announced major layoffs at Meta Platforms in late 2022, he admitted the company had overhired during the Covid-era tech boom, taking responsibility as Meta cut more than 11,000 jobs — a figure that later expanded to around 21,000.

In 2023, Zuckerberg described the restructuring as part of Meta’s “year of efficiency.” More than three years later, the company’s approach appears to have shifted further, with Meta now preparing to cut roughly 10% of its workforce as AI becomes the company’s central focus.

Earlier rounds of layoffs this year reportedly included around 1,000 jobs in Meta’s Reality Labs division in January, followed by additional cuts in March and a broader move away from contractors involved in content moderation work.

Reports also suggest employee morale inside Meta has declined sharply. Data from Blind reportedly shows falling internal ratings and weaker culture scores since 2024 compared with tech peers such as Amazon, Google, and Netflix.

A former Meta Platforms employee has shared a reflective response after being laid off, saying the experience may ultimately become a turning point in his career.

In a post on X, Jeremy Bernier acknowledged that losing the income was difficult, but said years of recurring layoffs and internal pressures such as stack ranking had already taken a toll.

Despite the setback, Bernier said he believes he will eventually look back on the moment with gratitude, describing his time at Meta as “a privilege” before saying he is now moving on to “the next adventure.”

According to Bloomberg, Meta Platforms could carry out additional layoffs later this year as the company continues reshaping its workforce around AI-focused projects.

Before the latest round of job cuts and internal restructuring began, Meta employed nearly 80,000 people globally as of the end of March.

According to Bloomberg, Meta Platforms could carry out additional layoffs later this year as the company continues reshaping its workforce around AI-focused projects.

Before the latest round of job cuts and internal restructuring began, Meta employed nearly 80,000 people globally as of the end of March.

According to reports, Meta Platforms began sending layoff notifications in three separate waves starting at 4 am local time in different regions worldwide.

Employees in Singapore were reportedly among the first to receive the notices, followed later by workers across Europe and the United States based on their respective time zones.

The job cuts are said to affect several teams across the company, with Meta’s engineering and product divisions expected to face the largest reductions.

Amid sweeping layoffs at Meta Platforms, financial software giant Intuit is also cutting roughly 3,000 employees — about 17% of its workforce — as part of a major restructuring effort focused on simplifying operations and accelerating its artificial intelligence ambitions.

Meta Platforms is reportedly cutting managerial roles as part of a broader restructuring aimed at creating flatter organisational structures and smaller, faster-moving teams.

In an internal memo, Meta HR chief Janelle Gale said many teams can now operate with leaner pod-style structures that allow employees to move more quickly and take greater ownership of projects.

The latest round of layoffs is expected to hit Meta’s engineering and product divisions the hardest, with reports suggesting that additional job cuts could follow later this year as the company deepens its AI-focused transformation.

Meta Platforms has reportedly linked its latest round of layoffs to a broader restructuring effort centred around artificial intelligence.

According to comments from Meta HR chief Janelle Gale, the company is embedding “AI native design principles” into its new organisational structure. In practical terms, the shift signals Meta’s attempt to rebuild operations around AI systems while reducing layers of human management and internal processes.

The restructuring comes as CEO Mark Zuckerberg continues to make AI the company’s top strategic priority amid growing competition with major players in the artificial intelligence industry.

The reported changes have intensified concerns across the tech sector about how AI-driven restructuring could reshape traditional white-collar roles and corporate hierarchies.

According to a report by Business Insider, employees in the US affected by recent layoffs at Meta Platforms will receive severance packages that include 16 weeks of base pay, plus an additional two weeks of salary for every year of continuous service at the company.

Laid-off US employees will also continue to receive healthcare coverage for themselves and their families for up to 18 months.

Workers outside the United States are expected to receive similar compensation support, though the final severance terms will depend on local labour laws and country-specific employment policies.

A pregnant employee at Meta Platforms has shared an emotional post on workplace forum Blind after being laid off while seven months pregnant with her first child.

The employee said she had already informed her manager about the pregnancy and had officially initiated her parental leave request before receiving news of the layoff. With her baby due in July, she described feeling “lost” and overwhelmed about handling both the pregnancy and sudden job loss.

In the post, she asked other users for advice on whether she should contact an employment lawyer, negotiate her severance package, or explore other options following the termination.

The post has added to growing discussions online about the human impact of ongoing layoffs across the tech industry amid aggressive AI spending and restructuring efforts.

Mark Zuckerberg has made artificial intelligence the top priority at Meta Platforms as the company races to compete with rivals like Google and OpenAI.

Meta is expected to spend more than $100 billion on AI-related capital expenditure this year, with some estimates placing the figure as high as $145 billion. At the same time, the company has reportedly faced growing internal unease over layoffs and AI-driven changes.

According to a Bloomberg report, more than 1,000 Meta employees have signed a petition opposing plans to collect detailed device activity data — including keystrokes and screen content — for AI training purposes.

Investors have also questioned the scale of Meta’s AI spending. Analysts at Evercore reportedly estimated that the company’s latest layoffs could save around $3 billion, a relatively small amount compared to its massive AI investment plans.

A viral post claiming to be from a senior Meta executive alleges the company is recording employees’ mouse movements, clicks, and workflows to train AI systems while restructuring teams and cutting jobs. The post describes workers as “training data,” claims AI-native pods are being created for easier automation, and says employees are unknowingly teaching the systems that could eventually replace them.

Meta Chief People Officer Janelle Gale said in an internal memo that, alongside the company’s 8,000 job cuts, around 7,000 employees will be reassigned into new AI-native teams. Gale also indicated that Meta plans to reduce managerial roles and move toward smaller teams.

A corporate employee has shared a deeply personal account of losing trust in management after being laid off despite seeking reassurance from someone they once trusted.

In a post reflecting on workplace culture in corporate America, the employee said they had personally recommended a former colleague for a leadership role at the company around seven months earlier. Because of their history, the employee believed the person would act as a reliable ally within upper management.

According to the post, the employee directly asked the manager for a warning if they were ever at risk of being laid off, especially after another colleague had recently been let go.

But when an unexpected meeting invite later appeared on their calendar, the employee again checked with the manager and was reportedly told it was “just a check-in.” The meeting ultimately turned out to be their layoff discussion.

The employee said the experience shattered their trust in management and highlighted the emotional toll corporate layoffs can have on workplace relationships.

George Pu, founder of Founder Reality, has argued that recent layoffs at Meta Platforms are not truly about funding artificial intelligence investments, but about reshaping the economics of tech work.

In a post on X, Pu pointed out that Meta is reportedly spending nearly $135 billion on AI-related capital expenditure this year, while expected savings from cutting around 8,000 jobs amount to roughly $3 billion — just 2% of the AI bill.

He noted that Meta posted $56 billion in revenue in the same quarter, calling it the most profitable period in the company’s history. Even eliminating every Meta employee, he argued, would save only a fraction of the company’s AI spending plans.

According to Pu, the layoffs are instead about giving companies “permission” to operate with leaner teams, slow wage growth, and redefine the value of white-collar tech jobs. He highlighted that Meta’s revenue per employee has jumped from $1.3 million in 2022 to $3.2 million now, suggesting companies have realised they can maintain record profits with significantly smaller workforces.

Pu warned that the traditional tech industry promise of high pay, stability, and long-term security is breaking down as AI transforms how companies operate. Reflecting on his own experience, he said he shut down his five-person SaaS startup last year before AI-driven changes could force the decision for him.

An employee at Meta Platforms has shared an emotional post on workplace forum Blind, urging people not to assume that workers laid off by the company were poor performers.

The employee described feeling guilty for keeping their own job while a highly respected teammate was let go despite a strong performance record. According to the post, the colleague was known for being humble, dependable, and deeply committed to her work.

The employee said the teammate had spent months working under intense pressure on a high-priority project with tight deadlines, often sleeping less than four hours a night. They recalled seeing her publish work commits at 3 am and again at 6 am, questioning when she even had time to sleep.

Despite consistently delivering on important projects and having no formal performance concerns, the employee said the colleague was still laid off, leaving coworkers shocked and saddened.

The post ended with a plea for empathy, asking people not to generalise or judge employees affected by the layoffs.

A longtime Meta Platforms engineer has shared an emotional account of being laid off just a day after training his replacement.

Gary Tay, an AdTech Business Support Engineer at Meta, said he spent 3,544 days — nearly 10 years — at the company after being hired in London and later relocated to Singapore. He noted that his tenure was longer than 99.5% of Meta’s current global workforce and nearly unmatched in the APAC office.

Tay said he dedicated much of the past year to retraining himself in artificial intelligence and building AI-driven systems that boosted team productivity by 200-300% while maintaining service standards for major clients.

“AI is here to stay, apparently the human isn’t,” he wrote, reflecting on the irony of being laid off despite improving efficiency through AI tools.

The former Meta and Microsoft engineer said he is now reassessing his career options while preparing to welcome his newborn child in July.

Technology leader Demis Hassabis has rejected claims that artificial intelligence is driving recent layoffs at companies like Meta Platforms and Amazon.

Calling the argument a “lack of imagination,” Hassabis suggested some firms may be using AI as a convenient explanation for job cuts to improve their image with investors.

He said AI tools, including newer Gemini 3.5 Flash systems from Google DeepMind, are meant to boost productivity rather than replace workers.

According to Hassabis, if engineers become three or four times more productive with AI, companies should focus on building “three or four times more stuff” instead of cutting jobs.

When Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced major layoffs in late 2022, he openly admitted the company had overhired during the Covid boom. At the time, he said, “I got this wrong, and I take responsibility for that,” as Meta began cutting more than 11,000 jobs, which later grew to around 21,000 in total.

In 2023, Zuckerberg framed the cuts as part of Meta’s “year of efficiency.”

More than three years later, the tone has clearly shifted. Meta is now set to cut about 10% of its workforce starting this week.

Earlier rounds of layoffs included about 1,000 jobs in Reality Labs in January and further cuts in March, along with a shift away from contractors handling content moderation.

Employee sentiment inside Meta has reportedly fallen sharply. Data from Blind shows Meta’s internal ratings have dropped significantly since 2024, with steep declines in culture scores compared to peers like Amazon, Google, and Netflix.

In his social media post, Kanan Bahl, a CA and founder of Fingrowth Media, argues that the narrative linking job cuts to artificial intelligence is misleading.

In his view, AI is now being positioned as a justification for restructuring, while the underlying cause is earlier over-hiring during strong market conditions.

"In 2019, Amazon had 800,000 employees. Within 2 years, the employees doubles to 1,600,000. An ex-Amazonian "Becky Global" shared on YouTube that she saw managers asking for absolutely unreasonable hiring demands.

6 product managers were hired to fix a UX issue on a checkout page. Eventually, the such companies realise that the headcount and salaries of people who got unreasonable hikes on joining aren't justified.

Then they come up with reasons like AI. A few insiders from the companies in India told me as well AI is just being used as an excuse to fire headcount that was increased irresponsibly."

According to layoff tracking platform Layoffs.fyi, tech job cuts in 2026 have now crossed 111,000 across 147 companies, as the industry continues to restructure around artificial intelligence.

The data points to a sustained wave of layoffs across major tech firms, with companies reducing headcount while increasing investment in AI-driven products and automation.

Analysts say the trend shows a broader shift in how tech companies are reorganising teams and prioritising efficiency amid rapid AI adoption.

Concerns are rising inside Meta over its growing AI strategy and workplace monitoring practices. Reports say the company has begun using software that can track keystrokes, mouse movements, and even screen activity in order to improve its AI systems.

More than 1,000 employees have reportedly signed a petition asking Meta to stop the tracking, with workers raising concerns about privacy, morale, and possible future layoffs.

Meta is part of a much bigger shift happening across the tech world, where companies are putting more money into generative AI, automation, and new infrastructure while cutting back on traditional business costs. Many analysts say these changes are not just about one company, but about how the entire industry is moving toward an AI-first future.

Experts and industry observers say companies are redesigning their teams to become smaller and flatter, as AI tools reduce the need for some managerial and administrative roles. Some believe this will make organisations more efficient, while others say it will mainly change how jobs are done rather than remove them completely

According to a Canada-based investor, performance reviews “don’t matter” in times of large-scale restructuring.

"I hate to say “I told you so,” but I told you so. Meta is cutting 10% of its staff - or 8,000 employees - in a few hours. The company is flattening orgs, removing layers of management, and reorganizing teams into smaller pods. Do you think all 8,000 soon-to-be former employees had bad performance reviews?" He said.

He added that performance review documents are mainly used for HR and legal paperwork rather than protection from layoffs, and that many impacted employees may still have had strong ratings before being let go.

An X user noted that some senior employees at are reportedly resigning just before major layoff rounds.

They question the logic behind leaving early, since resigning ahead of layoffs can mean losing severance and unemployment benefits, suggesting either they already have new roles lined up or are choosing to exit early amid growing uncertainty in big tech.

Technology leader Demis Hassabis is pushing back strongly against the idea that artificial intelligence is behind recent job cuts at big tech companies like Meta Platforms and Amazon.

He called that explanation a “lack of imagination,” and even suggested that some companies might be using AI as a convenient excuse for layoffs, possibly to make their financial outlook look more attractive to investors.

Hassabis said AI tools, including Google’s newer model Google DeepMind systems like Gemini 3.5 Flash, are designed to help people do more work in less time, not replace them.

As he put it, “If engineers are becoming three or four times more productive, then we just want to do three or four times more stuff.”

For him, the idea is simple: if AI makes teams faster and more efficient, companies should expand what they build instead of cutting jobs.

Hassabis also stressed that AI should be seen as a way to unlock new ideas, new products, and faster innovation, not as a force that automatically removes jobs from the system.

His comments come at a time when major tech firms are reshaping their workforce while also increasing investment in AI.

A Meta employee working in Data Engineering said they are expecting to be laid off as part of the company’s latest job cuts, even before official confirmation arrives. Posting anonymously on Blind, the employee said the uncertainty around layoffs and visa status has left them deeply anxious.

The employee, who said they joined Meta a year ago on an H1B visa, revealed they have already started applying for external Data Engineering roles. However, they described the current market as “extremely rough,” citing rejection emails, lack of callbacks, and fewer openings than expected.

In the Blind post, the employee asked fellow tech workers for guidance on preserving legal status in the US if layoffs happen. They specifically sought clarity on the H1B 60-day grace period, backup visa options beyond switching to F1, and companies still willing to transfer H1B visas.

Beyond visa concerns, the worker admitted they are also worried about long-term career growth and compensation. “I’m fully open to taking whatever role I can get if needed, but I also don’t want to make avoidable mistakes out of panic,” the post read.

Despite Meta’s aggressive AI expansion, investors appear concerned about the scale of spending.

Meta’s stock has fallen nearly 9% this year, placing the company behind most of the so-called “Magnificent 7” tech firms in annual growth. Only Tesla and Microsoft have performed worse during the same period.

Since Meta released its earnings report in late April, the company’s shares have also dropped nearly 10%.

Analysts at JPMorgan Chase downgraded Meta shares after the earnings report, saying the company faces “a more challenging path to returns” compared to some rivals in the AI race.

Meanwhile, analysts at Bank of America warned that Meta’s strategy may not be sustainable over the long term.

“Meta is investing even more in capacity for AI capabilities, and reducing headcount to make room for added expenses,” the analysts said.

“This AI investment cycle is proving to be bigger than expected, and returns are less clear vs Cloud providers,” they added.

As of March 2026, Meta employed 77,986 workers globally, down from its peak workforce of 86,482 employees in 2022.

In April, Meta raised its projected 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion, up from its earlier estimate of $115 billion to $135 billion.

The company said the increase was mainly linked to higher component prices and rising data center costs needed to support future AI growth.

During Meta’s first-quarter 2026 earnings call last month, Chief Financial Officer Susan Li spoke about the company’s growing use of AI tools.

“We’re very focused on leveraging AI tools to substantially increase our productivity, and we’re seeing that reflected in the accelerating output from our engineers,” she said.

“So I think we will be continuously evaluating how we’re structured just to make sure we’re best set up to deliver against our priorities over the coming years,” Li added.