Khaberni - Meta (owner of Facebook) plans to lay off a large number of its employees, possibly reaching 20% or more, as part of its efforts to compensate for its costly investments in artificial intelligence infrastructure and prepare for the efficiency increase that AI-assisted work will provide.
Three informed sources told Reuters that the exact date for the layoffs has not yet been determined, nor has the number of employees to be affected been finalized.
Two of the sources, who asked not to be identified because they are not authorized to disclose the matter, indicated that Meta's senior executives recently informed other senior management officials about the matter and asked them to start planning how to reduce the number of employees.
In response to questions about the plan, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said, "This is a report based on speculation about theoretical perceptions."
If Meta settles on a 20% rate, it would be the largest layoff in the company's history since the restructuring it carried out in late 2022 and early 2023, which it called the "Year of Efficiency".
The company had about 79,000 employees as of December 31st, according to its latest disclosure.
In November 2022, the company laid off 11,000 employees, equivalent to 13% of its workforce at the time. About four months later, it announced the layoff of another 10,000 employees.
Throughout the past year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been urging the company to enhance its competitiveness in the field of generative artificial intelligence.
The company offered massive salary packages, some worth hundreds of millions of dollars over 4 years, to attract top artificial intelligence researchers to join its new team specializing in super intelligence.
The company announced plans to invest $600 billion to build data centers by 2028.
A few days ago, Meta acquired Multipook, a social media platform specifically designed for AI models and systems. Meta is also investing at least two billion dollars to acquire the emerging Chinese AI company Manus, according to a previous Reuters report.
Zuckerberg hinted at efficiency gains resulting from these investments, saying in January that he started to see "projects that required large teams are now being accomplished by a single highly talented person."
Meta's plans reflect a broader pattern among major American companies, especially in the technology sector this year. Executive officials pointed to recent developments in artificial intelligence systems as one of the reasons for this change.
