Meta reportedly considering layoffs that could affect 20% of the company

In Brief

Meta is considering major layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company’s workforce, according to Reuters.

These layoffs could help the Facebook parent company offset its aggressive spending on AI infrastructure, as well as AI-related acquisitions and hiring. Meta employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to a recent filing.

TechCrunch has reached out to Meta for comment. A company spokesperson told Reuters that its story was “speculative reporting about theoretical approaches.”

The report comes as many tech companies — most recently Block — have announced sweeping layoffs that they say are necessary as AI automates more work. But some pundits, and even executives like OpenAI’s Sam Altman, have suggested that many of these cuts are “AI-washing,” where executives use AI as cover for other issues, such as over-hiring during the pandemic.

The last time Meta announced layoffs of this scale was in November 2022, when it cut 11,000 jobs, followed by another 10,000 in March 2023.