Meta has rolled out a fresh round of global layoffs impacting around 8,000 employees, triggering widespread anger and internal backlash over terminations.
On Wednesday, thousands of workers across different time zones woke up to find termination emails which were delivered as early as 4 AM. The job cuts are expected to heavily hit Meta’s engineering and product teams. However, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has informed employees that the company does not expect more job cuts this year, reports said.
Why Meta Announced Global Layoffs?
This restructuring primarily targets global engineering, product development, and operational support divisions. Ahead of the announcement, Meta instructed staff in several regions to work from home before rolling out the layoff notices in phases across different time zones. Meta eliminated roughly 8,000 positions of its workforce with a reason for broader corporate restructuring. Reports said the move is aimed to cut costs and streamline management layers to fund Meta's aggressive artificial intelligence infrastructure, with estimates ranging between $100 billion and $145 billion.
Employees Protest Against AI Tracking
More than 1,000 employees have reportedly signed a petition protesting a new internal initiative. The program tracks user keyboard activity, mouse movements, and screen usage. While CEO Mark Zuckerberg denied the role and has stated the system is designed strictly to train AI models on how humans work rather than for surveillance, employees. In Meta’s Burlingame office, employees expressed their anger by taping protest flyers to office walls and windows. The flyers featured a cartoon titled the “Employee Data Extraction Factory,” depicting cats wearing orange hard hats.
Tech Giants Target AI
Meta is not alone as reductions have become a common theme across the tech sector. Amazon recently announced additional cuts in its Selling Partner Services division, following a massive reduction of roughly 30,000 positions between last October and this January. Other companies like Microsoft, Oracle, Cisco, and LinkedIn have similarly laid off thousands of its workers, citing a structural shift toward AI-driven workflows and automated operations.
The Sacking and Hiring Paradox of Tech Companies
Despite job cuts, tech giants have not frozen talent entirely; instead, they have shifted their hiring criteria. For instance, while Amazon has eliminated thousands of its roles, it continues to actively recruit fresh graduates and early career engineers for operational support. However, Amazon is strictly prioritizing young talent who are highly adaptable and eager to integrate AI tools directly into their everyday coding and operational workflows.