Meta is planning layoffs that could affect 20% or more of its workforce, according to three sources who spoke with Reuters — a reduction that would eliminate approximately 16,000 jobs from its current headcount of nearly 79,000.

No timeline or final figure has been set, but Business Insider reports that some managers have already been asked to prepare cost-cutting plans, and the cuts could arrive within a month.

The Biggest Reduction Since 2022

If realized at 20%, this would be Meta's most significant workforce reduction since its so-called "year of efficiency" in 2022–2023, when it cut 11,000 jobs in November 2022 and another 10,000 the following spring. In January, Meta had already laid off 1,500 employees from its Reality Labs division.

AI as Both Driver and Justification

Meta has committed to spending roughly $600 billion on data center infrastructure by 2028. The company is also paying some AI researchers compensation packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years for its new superintelligence team.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg has framed the reductions as a consequence of AI-enabled productivity gains, telling investors in January that "projects that used to require big teams can now be accomplished by a single very talented person."

A Broader Trend

Meta is not alone. Amazon confirmed 16,000 layoffs in January — nearly 10% of its workforce. Block CEO Jack Dorsey explicitly tied job cuts to AI efficiency gains. Atlassian announced cuts of around 1,600 employees in March, also citing the "AI era."

Meanwhile, Meta continues aggressive acquisitions: it recently purchased AI agent social network Moltbook and is spending at least $2 billion to acquire Chinese AI startup Manus.

Meta spokesperson Andy Stone called the Reuters reporting "speculative reporting about theoretical approaches."