Meta Platforms has started notifying employees across its global offices of job cuts affecting about 8,000 roles, as part of its AI-driven restructuring.
The company began the process on Wednesday morning, starting with staff in Asia.
Workers in Singapore received the first emails at around 4 a.m. local time, while employees in the United States and other regions are expected to hear later in the day.
People familiar with the plans said the notifications will roll out in stages across time zones.
Meta has asked many of those affected to work from home while the process continues. The cuts are part of a restructuring as the company moves more resources into artificial intelligence and reduces costs elsewhere in the business.
The reductions are expected to hit engineering and product teams the most. Some staff were told earlier that further changes could follow later in the year, depending on how the restructuring progresses.
At the same time, Meta has moved about 7,000 employees into newly formed teams focused on AI work, including product development and autonomous systems. The company ended March with just under 80,000 employees before these latest changes took effect.
In an internal memo, Meta’s Head of People, Janelle Gale, said the company is moving towards a flatter structure.
“We’re now at the stage where many orgs can operate with a flatter structure with smaller teams of pods/cohorts that can move faster and with more ownership.”
“We believe this will make us more productive and make the work more rewarding,” she said.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has made artificial intelligence the company’s main priority.
Meta has committed more than $100 billion in capital spending this year on AI infrastructure and related projects, as it tries to keep pace with competitors including Google and OpenAI.
The company has already carried out several rounds of layoffs in recent years as part of an efficiency stimulation. It has also encouraged staff to use AI tools in daily work, including coding and internal systems automation.
Inside the company, the changes have created unease. Some employees have complained about job security and the direction of internal AI projects.
More than 1,000 staff members signed a petition asking the company to avoid extensive data collection from employee devices for AI training, including inputs such as keystrokes, mouse movement and screen activity.
“Automators like Meta risk no longer being an employer of choice as it’s being revealed that they will cut out the human when the opportunity presents itself,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics and behavioural science at University of Oxford.
“Doing so might well lead to short-term cost savings but risks longer-term growth potential by undermining employee wellbeing and engagement.”
Investor considerations have also grown around the scale of Meta’s AI spending and whether it will deliver returns.
While the company describes the job cuts as a way to offset the cost of its AI expansion and restructuring, analysts at Evercore estimate the layoffs could generate about $3 billion in savings for Meta.
That figure is small compared with its bigger investment plans, and capital expenditure could reach about $145 billion this year, with expectations of further heavy spending on AI infrastructure over the coming years.
