Meta is laying off 10% of its workforce, as reported earlier this month by news agency Reuters. The Mark Zuckerberg-headed company plans to reduce its workforce by 10%, or roughly 8,000 employees, in May. The announcement was made in a memo by chief people officer Janelle Gale to employees, stating that layoffs will occur on May 20. The reason for the early announcement was that details of the plan had already leaked.
Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the Facebook and Instagram owner would lay off about 10% of its global workforce, close to 8,000 employees. While Gale's memo mentions a 10% reduction, the leaked report indicated that this is the initial round and more may follow. In March, Reuters reported that Meta was planning to lay off 20% or more of its global workforce. Meta had almost 79,000 employees at the start of the year. The company is scheduled to report first-quarter earnings next week.
Job cuts at Meta come as CEO Mark Zuckerberg invests hundreds of billions of dollars into artificial intelligence, seeking to dramatically reshape the company's inner workings around the technology. This reflects a broader pattern among US tech giants this year.
What Meta Chief People Officer Janelle Gale Wrote in the Memo
Over the last few weeks, we have been working on some changes to our organization that will result in us laying off around 10% of the company on May 20 and closing about 6,000 open roles. Normally, we would want to nail down more details before communicating broadly, but since this has leaked, I want to share what I can right now. I know this is unwelcome news and confirming this puts everyone in an uneasy state, but we feel this is the best path forward given the circumstances.
We are doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we are making. This is not an easy tradeoff, and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here.
We will support those who are laid off with a generous severance package. In the US, this will include 16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for every year of employment. We will also cover the cost of COBRA health care coverage for US employees and their families for 18 months. Packages outside the US will be similar but vary by country, as will local timelines and processes. We will also offer career services to support people in finding another role and immigration support for those who need it. We will share more details in a follow-up post ahead of May 20.
For notifications, we will follow the same process as before: on May 20, anyone impacted will receive an email to their work and personal accounts. Please make sure your personal email is updated in Workday.
I know this leaves everyone with nearly a month of ambiguity, which is incredibly unsettling. We will try to answer your questions here in the comments, but as we are still working through the details, we cannot share much more until later in May. Meanwhile, you can find more information on the People Portal, which includes our standard FAQs and logistical details for layoffs.
