Meta Platforms has commenced a fresh round of layoffs affecting about 8,000 employees across its global offices as the technology giant intensifies its shift toward Artificial Intelligence driven operations and restructuring. The process reportedly began on Wednesday with employees in Asia receiving notifications first, while workers in the United States and other regions are expected to be informed in phases across different time zones.
The restructuring is expected to impact engineering and product teams the most, with many affected workers directed to work from home while the exercise continues. At the same time, Meta has reportedly reassigned about 7,000 employees into newly created AI focused teams handling product development and autonomous systems as the company accelerates investment in Artificial Intelligence technologies.
In an internal memo, Meta’s Head of People, Janelle Gale, said the company was transitioning to a flatter organisational structure with smaller and faster moving teams. Chief Executive Officer, Mark Zuckerberg, has continued to position AI as the company’s top strategic priority, with Meta committing more than $100 billion in capital spending this year on AI infrastructure and related projects in a bid to compete with rivals such as Google and OpenAI.
The development has, however, generated concerns among employees and analysts over job security and the long term impact of the company’s aggressive automation drive. More than 1,000 workers reportedly signed a petition opposing extensive employee data collection for AI training purposes, while analysts at Evercore estimated that the layoffs could save Meta about $3 billion, a figure considered relatively small compared to its projected AI infrastructure spending expected to reach about $145 billion this year.