Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, will lay off approximately 10% of its global workforce on May 20, according to an internal memo seen by Reuters. The job cuts are part of a sweeping restructuring aimed at embedding artificial intelligence into the company's workflows and flattening its organizational structure.
Restructuring Details
Chief People Officer Janelle Gale informed employees that Meta will eliminate thousands of managerial roles and reassign 7,000 employees to new AI-focused initiatives. "Many orgs can now operate with a flatter structure, with smaller pods or cohorts that move faster and with more ownership," Gale wrote in the memo.
AI-Focused Initiatives
Employees are being drafted into units such as Applied AI Engineering (AAI), focused on building autonomous AI agents; Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA), cross-functional teams to accelerate AI adoption; Central Analytics, measuring productivity and agent development; and Enterprise Solutions, a new unit with details to be announced soon.
The company has already closed 6,000 open roles and instructed North American employees to work remotely on May 20. Combined with layoffs, the transfers will affect about 20% of Meta's workforce.
Employee Backlash
The changes have sparked protests inside Meta. Over 1,000 employees signed a petition against mouse-tracking software used to train AI models. Staff have posted flyers in offices and flooded internal Workplace posts with images of elephants, urging executives to address the "elephant in the room"—the layoffs.
Zuckerberg's Stance
Despite the cuts, CEO Mark Zuckerberg distanced himself from the narrative that AI replaces humans. "AI isn't going to replace people," he said, arguing the technology amplifies human capabilities. This contrasts with Block CEO Jack Dorsey, who tied his company's 40% workforce cut to AI progress.
Meta has rolled out an internal tracking tool called Model Capability Initiative that records keystrokes, clicks, and mouse movements to train AI agents. Performance reviews now grade staff on AI use. Some teams operate with one manager per 50 engineers, a structure dubbed "ultraflat." Anonymous posts on Blind indicate internal sentiment is at its lowest on record.
Zuckerberg's vision is clear: Meta wants operators who can build alone what teams used to build together—and is ready to let the rest go.
