Meta is planning its first major round of layoffs for this year on May 20, which is expected to affect around 8,000 employees. Another round of job cuts is reportedly being considered for the second half of 2026, with the company's focus on AI influencing these decisions.
Meta is planning to kick off its first round of massive layoffs this year on May 20, three sources familiar with the sweeping changes told Reuters. This follows the announcement last month that the IT behemoth had planned to reduce its global staff by at least 20%. According to reports, the first round of planned Meta layoffs is anticipated to affect around 8,000 workers, or 10% of the company's worldwide workforce.
Meta Layoff in 2026
According to the research, there will likely be another round of layoffs in the second half of 2026. The precise time and scope of the alleged layoffs are now unknown. Sources said that since CEO Mark Zuckerberg is investing hundreds of billions of dollars on AI, the plans may change based on the company's advancements in this area. The assertions regarding the date and extent of the anticipated job layoffs have not yet received an official response from Meta.
One of the individuals told Reuters that some personnel will be moved into Meta Small Business, a division established last month, as part of the reorganisation process. As of December 31, 2025, Meta employed close to 79,000 workers, according to a recent filing from the California-based corporation.
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Amid the ongoing trend of layoffs in the tech industry, Layoffs.fyi, a website tracking tech job cuts around the world, reported that over 73,000 employees have already lost their jobs so far this year.
Meanwhile, Meta's 2026 layoffs are being hailed as the most significant since the corporation underwent a reorganisation in late 2022 and early 2023, when over 21,000 jobs were cut. The current round of layoffs is more focused on the AI transformation of the tech scene, even if the corporation was finding it difficult to accept its stock's decline while correcting assumptions about growth during the COVID-19 pandemic.
