Meta to Axe 10% of Workforce as It Shifts 7,000 Employees to AI Teams: Report

Meta is preparing to carry out a sweeping workforce restructuring this week, including layoffs, employee transfers, and organisational changes tied to its AI ambitions, Reuters reported.

The Facebook parent plans to lay off 10% of its global workforce on May 20 while moving around 7,000 employees into new AI-focused initiatives, according to a memo from Chief People Officer Janelle Gale accessed by Reuters.

The restructuring, together with previous transfers and the rollback of 6,000 open roles, will affect roughly 20% of the company’s workforce.

The changes are part of a broader overhaul at Meta as the company ramps up spending on AI infrastructure and products, while also redesigning internal operations around AI agents and automation. 

Meta employed 77,986 people at the end of March, according to company filings. Employees in North America were instructed to work from home on Wednesday as the layoffs are carried out.

According to the Reuters report, the restructuring includes eliminating managerial positions and reassigning employees to newly created AI-focused groups, including Applied AI Engineering, Agent Transformation Accelerator, and Central Analytics.

The initiatives aim to develop AI agents capable of autonomously performing tasks currently handled by human workers.

The restructuring has triggered internal backlash among employees. More than 1,000 staff members have signed a petition opposing the installation of mouse-tracking software intended to help train Meta’s AI systems by replicating how humans interact with computers.

Workers have also criticised executives internally over privacy concerns tied to the tracking technology and over the company’s silence following earlier reports about impending layoffs.