Meta is reportedly considering sweeping layoffs as the company increases spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and talent. According to Reuters, internal discussions suggest that the cuts could affect 20 percent or more of Meta’s workforce, although the final number and timeline have not been decided.
The potential move reflects Meta’s rapid shift toward generative AI. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has pushed the company to invest heavily in AI systems, new data centers, and advanced research teams. These investments are expensive, and executives are now looking for ways to balance the rising costs while preparing for a workplace where AI tools allow smaller teams to complete large projects.
Meta employed nearly 79,000 people as of late 2025, which means a 20 percent reduction could affect roughly 16,000 employees. If implemented, the cuts would become the largest restructuring since the company’s “year of efficiency” layoffs in 2022 and 2023, when about 21,000 jobs were eliminated.
Why Meta is preparing layoffs
The company’s aggressive AI strategy sits at the center of these discussions. Meta plans to invest about $600 billion in data centers by 2028 to support AI training and large scale computing infrastructure.
Key factors driving the restructuring include:
- Massive spending on AI infrastructure and computing power
- Hiring expensive AI researchers and engineers
- Efficiency gains from AI tools that reduce the need for large teams
- Pressure to compete with companies such as OpenAI, Google, and Anthropic
Zuckerberg has said that projects which previously required large teams can now be completed by a single highly skilled engineer using advanced AI tools.
Challenges in Meta’s AI push
The layoffs discussion also comes during a complicated phase for Meta’s AI development. The company faced criticism around early Llama 4 model benchmarks, and it delayed releasing the larger Behemoth model after performance issues. Meanwhile, Meta’s superintelligence team is developing a new model called Avocado, which still needs to prove its capabilities internally.
For now, Meta has described the layoffs report as speculative. Still, the discussions show how the race to build powerful AI systems is reshaping hiring strategies across the tech industry.
