Meta’s next layoff round to impact 8,000 jobs: Why tech firms are downsizing

Meta is planning another round of layoffs, and this time it is expected to be one of the bigger ones in recent years. As per details shared in an internal memo, the company will cut around 10% of its workforce, which translates to roughly 8,000 employees. The layoffs will take place in May, with affected employees likely to be informed around May 20. Also Read: Elon Musk reveals xAI relied on OpenAI models “partly” to train Grok

This also comes alongside another decision. Meta will not fill thousands of open roles that it was previously planning to hire for. Also Read: India seeks access to Anthropic’s Mythos AI, but US hesitates to share: Here’s why

What is the reason behind layoffs

As reported by The Wall Street Journal and BBC, the biggest reason here is cost and focus. Meta is increasing its spending on artificial intelligence at a very fast pace. The company is planning to spend up to $135 billion on AI infrastructure this year alone, which is a sharp jump compared to its earlier investments. Also Read: OpenAI case heats up: Elon Musk and Sam Altman face off in high-stakes trial

To balance this, Meta is cutting jobs in other areas. The idea is to run leaner teams while putting more resources into AI development.

There is also a shift in how work is being done inside the company. Executives have said that with AI tools improving, fewer people can now handle work that earlier required larger teams.

Why tech companies are cutting jobs

Meta is not the only one doing this. The broader tech industry has been going through similar changes over the past few years.

Companies are spending heavily on AI, cloud infrastructure, and automation. At the same time, they are trying to reduce costs and improve efficiency. This combination is leading to layoffs across the sector.

Several firms have already gone through job cuts. Amazon has reduced tens of thousands of roles, while companies like Microsoft and Snap have also announced layoffs or buyout plans. The pattern is similar across most of them — invest more in AI, reduce headcount where possible.

A look at Meta’s layoff history

This is not the first time Meta has cut jobs. The company started layoffs in 2022, when it reduced around 11,000 roles after expanding rapidly during the pandemic.

In 2023, Meta announced another major round of cuts, removing about 10,000 jobs as part of what it called its “year of efficiency”. The focus at that time was also on reducing costs and streamlining operations.

Since then, there have been smaller rounds as well. Earlier this year, Meta cut around 1,500 jobs from its Reality Labs division, followed by another round affecting around 700 employees.

Despite these cuts, hiring had picked up again in between, which brought the overall employee count back up. This latest round shows that the company is once again adjusting its workforce as priorities change.

A quick look at major tech layoffs in 2026 

As per data from layoffs.fyi, more than 84,000 jobs have already been cut in 2026 so far. Once Meta’s planned layoffs of around 8,000 employees are added, the total will move past 92,000. That gives a fair idea of how widespread these cuts have been this year. 

A few large tech companies have already gone through layoffs in the past few months: 

Most of these decisions point to the same thing. Companies are putting more money into AI and trying to reduce costs elsewhere, which is where these job cuts are coming from. 

What else is changing inside Meta

Alongside layoffs, Meta is also changing how it builds and trains its AI systems. Reports suggest the company has started using internal tools that track employee activity to help train future AI models.

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This has raised concerns among some employees, especially at a time when job cuts are already being discussed internally.