Meta to Cut 8,000 Jobs May 20 in First Wave of 2026 Layoffs, More Expected Later This Year
Meta will begin sweeping layoffs on Wednesday, May 20, cutting about 10% of its global workforce, close to 8,000 employees, in the first of several rounds planned for this year, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The Facebook and Instagram parent is also preparing additional job cuts in the second half of 2026, the sources said, though the timing and size of those rounds are not yet finalised. Executives could still adjust the plans based on how AI capabilities evolve internally.
The company declined to comment on the timing or scope of the planned reductions.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pouring hundreds of billions into AI as he pushes to overhaul Meta’s operations around the technology.
The move mirrors a broader trend across U.S. tech in 2026, where firms are linking headcount reductions to efficiency gains from artificial intelligence.
Amazon recently trimmed 30,000 corporate roles, nearly 10% of its white-collar staff, while fintech firm Block cut almost half its workforce in February. Both companies cited AI-driven efficiency.
Data from Layoffs. fyi shows 73,212 tech jobs have been cut globally so far this year, compared to 153,000 across all of 2024.
This will be Meta’s largest restructuring since its “year of efficiency” in late 2022 and early 2023, when it shed about 21,000 jobs amid falling stock prices and post-COVID growth corrections.
Meta’s financial position is stronger now. The company posted over $200 billion in revenue and $60 billion in profit last year despite heavy AI spending. Its shares are up 3.68% year-to-date, though still below last summer’s record high.
As of December 31, Meta employed nearly 79,000 people, per its latest filing.
In recent weeks, Meta reorganised teams inside Reality Labs and moved engineers across the company into a new “Applied AI” unit focused on building AI agents that can write code and handle complex tasks autonomously.
One source said some staff will also shift into Meta Small Business, a unit created last month, as part of the broader restructuring.
