Meta Platforms Inc. is reassigning about 7,000 workers into new artificial intelligence roles as part of a broader restructuring that brings layoffs of roughly 8,000 staff into effect Wednesday.
Affected staff will be consolidated into four new organizations focused on AI products, including Applied AI Engineering, Agent Transformation Accelerator XFN, Central Analytics, and Enterprise Solutions. The first two are part of an "AI for Work" push, while Central Analytics tracks the productivity of Meta's internal AI agents. The memo from Chief People Officer Janelle Gale says the new structure will be "flatter" with "smaller teams."
The job cuts, confirmed in April, reduce Meta's headcount by approximately 10%. About 6,000 open positions are also being eliminated. U.S. workers laid off will receive 16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for each year of service and 18 months of health coverage.
Meta's headcount stood at 77,986 at the end of March, down from a 2022 high of 86,482. The latest round is the deepest cut since 2022 and 2023, when Meta shed more than 21,000 jobs in what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the "year of efficiency."
The cash freed up by the cuts is heading into AI. Meta now expects to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion on capital projects this year, up from a previous range of $115 billion to $135 billion. The bulk of the spending is for data centers, custom silicon, and other AI infrastructure.