The move comes as the tech giant ramps up investment in artificial intelligence (AI) technology and looks to boost efficiency through AI-powered tools.
No official date for the layoffs has been announced, and the total number of affected employees has yet to be finalised. Sources told Reuters that senior leaders at Meta have been instructed to begin planning for potential reductions.
A spokesperson for Meta described the report as “speculative” and said the company had not made any final decisions.
If implemented, the job cuts would mark the largest workforce reduction at Meta since late 2022 and early 2023, when the company carried out a series of layoffs under a restructuring it called the “year of efficiency.”
At the end of last year, Meta employed nearly 79,000 people globally. In 2022 and 2023, previous rounds of layoffs affected more than 21,000 employees in total.
The potential staff reduction coincides with CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s strong push into generative AI. Meta has offered lucrative multi-year compensation packages to attract top AI talent and is investing heavily in new infrastructure, including plans to spend $600 billion on data centers by 2028.
The company has also acquired Moltbook, a social networking platform for AI agents, and the Chinese startup Manus for around $2 billion.
Zuckerberg has said that AI could dramatically improve efficiency within teams, with some projects now achievable by a single skilled employee rather than large groups.
Meta’s move reflects a broader trend in the U.S. tech industry. Companies like Amazon and Block have recently announced significant layoffs, citing increased productivity from AI tools.
However, some analysts warn that these cuts may partly be “AI-washing,” a term used to describe reductions masked as AI-driven efficiency but also motivated by previous over-hiring.
Meta’s AI projects have faced challenges, including criticism of the Llama 4 models and delays with its Behemoth model. The company’s superintelligence team is now focusing on a new model called Avocado.
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