GoKawiilMeta stock was up in pre-market trading on Monday, following what it called "speculative" reports that the company is planning to lay off over 20% of its workforce to balance its big AI spending plans this year.
Reuters reported on Saturday that top executives at the tech giant told senior leaders to start making plans to reduce headcount, citing three anonymous sources familiar with the matter. The company's shares were up 2.7% in premarket trading at 6:16 a.m. ET, after it plunged nearly 4% on Friday.
Meta employed nearly 79,000 employees as of December 2025, and the magnitude of the layoff described could affect more than 15,000 workers. This would be its largest layoff since late 2022, when CEO Mark Zuckerberg said Meta was cutting 11,000 jobs and paring back hiring as part of an expansive cost-trimming strategy.
When asked whether Reuters' reporting was accurate, a CNBC spokesperson told CNBC: "This is a speculative report about theoretical approaches."
Further potential Meta job cuts come as the tech giant doubles down on building out expensive AI infrastructure and reaping efficiency gains from AI integrated into its workflows.
Several firms have already revealed major redundancy plans linked to AI in 2026. Jack Dorsey's Block said it's laying off 4,000 employees in February to enable the firm "to move faster with smaller, highly talented teams using AI to automate more work."