Meta is reducing its workforce by approximately 4,000 employees, a move aligned with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy to increase efficiency and prioritize artificial intelligence (AI) development. Notifications about the layoffs have been sent to affected employees across the US, Europe, and Asia, according to an internal memo.
This reduction represents around five percent of Meta’s total workforce and follows Zuckerberg’s earlier statements about tightening performance evaluations and addressing underperformance. The company’s decision reflects a larger trend in the tech sector, where firms such as Microsoft and Amazon are also scaling back after aggressive hiring during the pandemic.
Although Meta remains profitable, it is reorienting its resources toward AI, requiring substantial infrastructure investments. Following Zuckerberg’s declaration of 2023 as the “year of efficiency,” Meta’s stock has risen, boosting its market value by over $1 trillion.
In the US, laid-off employees will receive severance packages, which include 16 weeks of pay and additional compensation based on years of service. However, some workers have raised concerns about the company’s growing culture of fear, drawing comparisons to George Orwell’s 1984.
Meta is also restructuring its operations by merging teams from Facebook and Messenger and reassigning leadership within its AI division. Additionally, the financially struggling Reality Labs division, which focuses on metaverse development, is being reintegrated into Meta’s core operations.
In Europe, however, employees, especially in Germany and France, are not facing immediate layoffs due to local labor laws that require different performance management procedures.
