New Delhi: Meta is preparing for another round of layoffs this week as the company pushes deeper into artificial intelligence and restructures its internal
teams. The transfer is part of a larger restructuring initiative dedicated to simplifying operations, cutting down on management levels, and speeding up the AI-related efforts of the organisation.
In a memo obtained by Reuters, Meta told staff that thousands of employees would be moved to new projects involving artificial intelligence, and further reductions in staff will follow over the next few months. As the competition tightens in the field of AI, the company is stepping up its investments in AI infrastructure and products.
Meta to move 7,000 employees into AI teams
About 7,000 workers will transition to roles relating to AI workflows and engineering, Meta Chief People Officer Janelle Gale wrote in an internal memo. These include the programme Applied AI Engineering (AAI) and the Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA) XFN team, previously described by Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth.
The restructuring is aimed at making teams flatter and simpler in terms of levels of management, said Gale. Many of the divisions are implementing “AI-native design principles” to enable smaller teams, or “pods”, to work faster and more autonomously, the memo said. The details of the memo were first reported by Reuters.
More job cuts expected later this year
Reports indicate that Meta will begin to eliminate nearly 10 per cent of its staff from its workforce starting from Wednesday, May 20, and that more job cuts are anticipated later this year. The latest workforce headcount reduction comes after other workforce reductions and hiring freezes were implemented as part of the company’s efficiency drive.
Earlier, Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that the company’s restructuring is associated with its increased investments in artificial intelligence. The “people-orientated things” are the two biggest expense items for Meta, Zuckerberg said during a recent company town hall, noting the company’s increasing investment in the financial costs of AI development.
AI spending reshapes the tech industry
Meta’s job cuts come as part of a broader trend in the tech sector, as firms prioritise investing in AI over staffing. In addition to the planned cutbacks, Meta has also been reported to have shut down 6,000 job openings in the restructuring process.
Company filings show Meta had announced a global workforce of 77,986 people as of the end of March. Despite the work simplification and reorganisation of the firm, the company remains committed to the investments in AI.
