Meta to reassign 7,000 employees to new AI roles after 8,000 job cuts

Meta Platforms Inc. is reportedly reassigning about 7,000 of its workforce to AI roles this week, following its structural buildups and recent massive spending on AI projects.

The development comes at a time when the company is also expected to lay off 10% (approximately 8,000) of its workforce before the week ends. This also forms part of the strategic corporate restructuring. 

According to an early Tuesday report by Bloomberg, Meta‘s Head of HR, Janelle Gale, had notified employees that 7,000 of them will be moved to four new units focused on building AI tools and applications. 

In an internal memo, Gale mentioned that the restructuring “will make (Meta) more productive and make the work more rewarding.” She added in the memo that the new corporate structures will be “flatter” with small teams.

In preparation for the massive shift, employees are to work from home on Wednesday, May 20. The day would mark a rollercoaster for Meta employees. For some 8,000 employees, it would be a layoff notification via email, while for another 7,000 employees, it would be a transfer notification.

The shift comes amid Meta’s continued leverage on AI to compete on the global stage. 

In April, Meta informed employees that it would be cutting 8,000 jobs and also closing about 6,000 open roles. At that time, Gale noted that the move is part of a broader decision to run the company more efficiently and will open room to offset its other investments. 

At the end of 2025, Meta had about 78,000 employees. The expected layoff of 8,000 members of staff will wipe out 10% of the workforce. However, analysts projected that Meta will still cut more jobs before the end of 2026.

Workers set to be affected by the layoff will receive 16 weeks of severance pay, coupled with an additional two extra weeks for every year they’ve been with the WhatsApp and Facebook parent company. 

Also Read: Meta cracks down on underage users with advanced AI on Instagram, Facebook, Messenger.

Meta continues to bet big on AI

Meta’s revolution in AI investment is attributed to the ongoing fierce competition with other big tech companies such as OpenAI, Amazon, and Google. 

For Meta, the switch began with its spending on the metaverse, which didn’t really get the expected attention, and also planning to build data centres with “tens of gigawatts”. The company recently created a superintelligence team of AI experts, with Mark Zuckerberg personally hand-picking potential recruits for the team.

In addition, Meta is building AI agents and integrating AI chatbots into a series of its products. Zuckerberg is also reportedly planning to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion on AI development in 2026. 

With these plans, Meta’s job cuts seem to be just the beginning. However, it follows the spread of layoffs manifested by the tech industry, as part of the move to invest more in AI.