Year of AI, says Mark Zuckerberg amidst another round of layoffs at Meta
Meta Layoffs: Tech giant Meta has initiated a new round of employee layoffs. The company's CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, is now rapidly shifting his focus toward Artificial Intelligence, a move that has left the jobs of hundreds of employees hanging in the balance.
According to reports, Meta is laying off employees on a large scale across Silicon Valley. California state documents indicate that 124 jobs are being eliminated in Burlingame and 74 in Sunnyvale. These layoffs are set to take effect by the end of May and are considered permanent.
Lay offs occurred in Jan and March this year
This is not the first time Meta has taken such a drastic step. In March 2026, the company laid off approximately 700 employees. Prior to that, in January 2026, around 1,500 people lost their jobs within the Reality Labs division. The impact of these decisions has been clearly visible across the recruiting, sales, operations, and technical teams. Although the company is attempting to offer alternative roles to some employees, many may be required to relocate to accept these new positions.
Year of AI: Mark Zuckerberg
CEO Mark Zuckerberg believes that 2026 will be the "Year of AI," a period that will fundamentally transform the way work is performed. In line with this strategy, Meta is restructuring its teams to make them smaller and more efficient. The company is now ramping up its utilization of AI tools to enable greater productivity with a smaller workforce.
Multi-Billion Dollar Investment in AI
Meta is gearing up to make massive investments in the AI sector this year. According to reports, the company could spend anywhere between $115 billion and $135 billion. This investment will be directed toward data centers, servers, and AI infrastructure. Additionally, the company anticipates an increase of approximately 40% in its operating expenses. Recently, Meta has also hired several top tech talents, including names such as Alexander Wang.
Meta laid off about 11,000 employees in Nov 2022
A report claims that Meta is considering reducing its total workforce by approximately 20%. However, the company has termed this "mere speculation" and stated that no final decision has been made yet. If this were to happen, it would mark the company's largest round of layoffs since 2022 and 2023. It is worth recalling that in November 2022, Meta laid off approximately 11,000 employees.
What Does the Company Say?
Meta states that it periodically makes adjustments to its teams in order to better achieve its objectives. The company has also clarified that, wherever possible, efforts will be made to offer alternative roles to the affected employees. Meta—which owns major platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp—employed approximately 79,000 people as of the end of 2025.