Meta has announced plans to cut 10% of its workforce, or roughly 8,000 employees, as it ramps up spending on AI.
According to an internal memo published by Bloomberg, the firm said it was “necessary to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making”.
Usually, memos of this magnitude are written by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, but in this case it was attributed to chief people officer Janelle Gale. “This is not an easy trade-off and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here,” she added.
Employees will not know who will get the cut until 20 May, when Meta will contact those who have been affected.
After years trying to hitch its future fortunes on the metaverse – a primarily virtual reality-based experience designed as a social hub for users – the firm announced in March that the service would be shut down entirely and the platform would only be accessible on smartphones. It subsequently reversed...