Meta to Lay Off 10% of Workforce, Around 8,000 Employees, on May 20

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 company announced the layoffs in a memo written by chief people officer Janelle Gale to employees saying that the layoffs will come on May 20.

And the reason Gale said that the company was announcing the layoffs early is because the details of the plan had already leaked. Earlier this month, Reuters reported that the Facebook and Instagram owner will lay off about 10% of its global workforce, or close to 8,000 employees.

While Gale's memo mentions that the company plans to lay off 10%, the leaked report said that 10% is in the initial round and that more rounds may follow. In March, Reuters reported that Meta is 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 at a time when CEO Mark Zuckerberg is pumping hundreds of billions of dollars into AI as he seeks to dramatically reshape his company's inner workings around the technology, reflecting a broader pattern among US tech giants this year.

What Meta chief people officer Janelle Gale wrote in 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 about this 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're doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we're 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 which, in the US, will include 16 weeks 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'll share more of these details in a follow up post ahead of May 20.

For notifications, we will follow the same process we have before: on May 20, anyone who is 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're still working through the details we aren't able to 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."