Meta has eliminated thousands of jobs in California as part of its artificial intelligence (AI) restructuring, with the hardest cuts falling on software engineers. According to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) filings, the social media giant terminated 2,212 positions at its Menlo Park headquarters and 213 workers at its Sunnyvale office.
The layoffs are part of a broader reduction that also included 300 job cuts in Burlingame, 252 in San Francisco, and 81 in Fremont, as reported by The New York Post. These filings reveal some of the most severe engineering and corporate job losses in Silicon Valley in recent years.
Software Engineers Hit Hardest
Meta had announced in April its intention to cut 10% of its global workforce in May to prioritize AI. The latest cuts are part of a larger layoff of 8,000 workers. WARN data and local reports indicate that software engineers were the most affected, particularly those working on business-facing AI products integrated across Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
In an internal memo on May 20, CEO Mark Zuckerberg emphasized the company's aggressive transformation to lead in AI. "AI is the most consequential technology of our lifetimes. The companies that lead the way will define the next generation. Success isn't a given," he wrote, as reported by The New York Times.
Restructuring and Severance
Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton stated that the restructuring involves moving human resources to critical priorities. "The changes we are implementing vary by team and include layoffs, open role closures, and moving thousands of employees to business-critical priorities across the company," Clayton said.
Affected employees will receive a severance package of 16 weeks of base pay, plus an additional two weeks of salary for each year of service.
