On May 20, Meta will notify 8,000 employees of their termination, representing 10% of its global workforce.
The layoffs are driven by the company’s strategy to redirect resources toward artificial intelligence development, with internal memos indicating the cuts are necessary to offset rising AI-related expenses.
Simultaneously, Meta will eliminate plans to fill 6,000 open positions, effectively reducing its workforce by 14,000 roles through attrition and dismissal.
Chief People Officer Janelle Gale acknowledged in the memo that the decision is painful, noting that affected employees have made significant contributions to the company.
Meta has begun monitoring employee computer activity through a new software tool that records keystrokes, mouse movements, and click patterns to train its next-generation AI models.
The company now evaluates staff performance based on their use of AI tools, has flattened organizational structures by reducing management layers, and is developing a “CEO agent” to assist Mark Zuckerberg in his duties.
For more on this story, see Meta lays off nearly 8,000 employees as it invests $135 billion in AI infrastructure.
Zuckerberg and senior leaders have repeatedly stated that AI enables smaller teams to accomplish work previously requiring larger groups, accelerating product development cycles.
This approach reflects an unusually aggressive integration of AI into workplace operations, even by Silicon Valley standards, as Meta seeks to automate tasks currently performed by humans.
The dual strategy of workforce reduction and AI investment aims to streamline operations while funding costly AI research and infrastructure.
Employees remaining at Meta will work under heightened surveillance, with their digital interactions directly feeding into the training of systems designed to eventually replace aspects of their own labor.
Why is Meta cutting jobs while investing heavily in AI?
Meta argues that AI-driven efficiency gains will allow it to maintain or increase output with fewer employees, justifying the layoffs as a necessary step to fund long-term AI ambitions.
How is Meta using employee data to train its AI systems?
The company has deployed monitoring software that records keystrokes, mouse movements, and clicks to teach AI models how humans interact with computers, using real workplace behavior as training data.
