Meta confirmed plans to lay off approximately 8,000 employees, or 10% of its roughly 79,000-person workforce, on May 20, while also closing 6,000 open roles it had intended to fill, with chief people officer Janelle Gale citing the need to run the company more efficiently and offset heavy AI investments including record capital expenditures and several multibillion-dollar AI partnerships. Affected U.S. employees will receive 16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of employment, along with 18 months of COBRA health coverage and immigration support where needed. Meta said it announced the cuts early because details had already leaked, with Gale writing in her memo to staff that “we feel this is the best path forward, given the circumstances.”
