Meta is laying off 8,000 employees, read full HR memo here
NEW DELHI,APR 24 : After weeks of rumours, Meta has confirmed that it is going to cut 10 per cent of its global workforce, laying off around 8,000 employees globally. This comes at a time when the Mark Zuckerberg-led firm is doubling down on AI investment. The company informed its employees via an internal memo.
The memo, first reported by Bloomberg, was sent by Meta’s chief people officer, Janelle Gale. In the message, Janelle stated that the company was working on internal changes that will “result in us laying off around 10 per cent of the company on May 20.”
This aligns with previous reports over Meta laying off 8,000 workers on the same date. This puts Meta amongst a host of companies, such as Oracle, Amazon, and Microsoft, that have fired thousands of workers as they shift focus towards AI.
The layoffs are not just going to impact current Meta employees. The company has also revealed that it has no plans of hiring people for around 6,000 open roles which were previously planned to be filled.
Janelle Gale accepted that the company was sharing the tough news to employees since the layoff reports had already made it to the media. She explained, “Normally, we would want to nail down more details before communicating about this broadly, but since this has leaked, I want to share what I can right now.”
Do note that apart from the 8,000 reduced roles, it is expected that Meta will later fire another 8,000 workers, with two layoff rounds expected to impact 20 per cent of the company’s 79,000 employees.
Meta had previously laid off around 700 workers across different teams, including the Reality Labs division that was responsible for building the Metaverse.
Why is Meta laying off 8,000 workers?
In the memo, Janelle accepted that the company needed to reduce roles to save cash for investments elsewhere. She wrote, “We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making.” While the Meta chief did not explicitly mention the areas of investment, it is likely that the company will continue to double down on AI.
As per reports, Meta is spending billions of dollars when it comes to AI infrastructure. The company has also started tracking employee mouse movements and keystrokes to train AI, something that has been met with opposition from Meta employees.
Previously, Mark Zuckerberg had stated that AI will become an increasingly important part of the workplace. He stated, “I think that 2026 is going to be the year that AI starts to dramatically change the way that we work.”
Meta reveals severance package for laid off workers
Janelle stated that the laid off workers will get “generous” severance packages. In the US, this will include 16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for every year of employment. Meta said it would also cover health care costs for US employees and their families for 18 months.
For employees based outside the US, the packages “will be similar but vary by country, as will local timelines and processes.” Meta will also provide career support for impacted workers.
Here is the full memo:
“Over the last few weeks we have been working on some changes to our organization that will result in us laying off around 10% of the company on May 20, and closing about 6,000 open roles. Normally, we would want to nail down more details before communicating about this broadly, but since this has leaked, I want to share what I can right now. I know this is unwelcome news and confirming this puts everyone in an uneasy state, but we feel this is the best path forward, given the circumstances.
We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making. This is not an easy tradeoff and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here.
We will support those who are laid off with a generous severance package which, in the US, will include 16 weeks base pay plus two weeks for every year of employment. We will also cover the cost of COBRA health care coverage for US employees and their families for 18 months. Packages outside the US will be similar but vary by country, as will local timelines and processes. We will also offer career services to support people in finding another role, and immigration support for those who need it. We’ll share more of these details in a follow up post ahead of May 20.
For notifications, we will follow the same process we have before: on May 20, anyone who is impacted will receive an email to their work and personal accounts – please make sure your personal email is updated in Workday.
I know this leaves everyone with nearly a month of ambiguity which is incredibly unsettling. We will try to answer your questions here in the comments but as we’re still working through the details we aren’t able to share much more until later in May. Meanwhile, you can find more information on the People Portal which includes our standard FAQs and logistical details for layoffs.”
-The India Today
