Meta plans 16,000 job cuts amid AI investment

Meta is preparing to cut about 20% of its workforce, or roughly 16,000 jobs, according to Reuters sources. If confirmed, this would be the company’s largest round of layoffs since 2022, when it cut 11,000 roles, followed by a further 10,000 in 2023. The latest cuts could start within a month.

The move comes as Meta plans to spend around $600 billion on AI infrastructure and data centres by 2028 and builds out a superintelligence team by hiring from rivals including OpenAI, Google and Anthropic. The report follows Meta’s denial last month of any new performance-based layoffs, when it described recent changes as isolated cases rather than part of a wider plan. The company’s actions mirror a broader wave of job cuts across major tech and telecom firms such as Oracle, Salesforce, Telstra, TCS, Ericsson and T-Mobile.