Thousands of Meta employees woke up to layoff notices on May 20 as the company rolled out job cuts in phases across Asia, Europe and the Americas.
The layoffs affected nearly 10 percent of Meta's workforce, with notifications beginning at 4 am local time in Singapore before expanding globally. Employees in the United States were offered 16 weeks of severance pay, additional compensation based on years of service and extended healthcare coverage.
In a company-wide memo first reported by The New York Times, Zuckerberg attempted to reassure remaining staff by promising that Meta does "not expect other company-wide layoffs this year".
The message marked the first clear indication of stability after weeks of uncertainty inside the company.
Meta's AI expansion is driving the restructuring
The layoffs come as Meta sharply increases spending on artificial intelligence infrastructure and model development.
During the company's recent earnings call, Meta revealed plans to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion on capital expenditure this year, nearly double its previous annual spending. Most of the money is expected to go towards data centres, AI chips and model training under Meta's expanding superintelligence division.
Meta chief financial officer Susan Li admitted during the earnings discussion that the company is still reassessing what its ideal workforce size should look like in the AI era.
Zuckerberg also defended the restructuring by arguing that AI tools now allow smaller teams to perform work previously handled by much larger departments.
Thousands reassigned as Meta reshapes workforce
While 8,000 jobs were eliminated, Meta also reassigned around 7,000 employees to new AI-focused projects.
At the same time, nearly 6,000 open positions across the company were scrapped as Meta reorganised its internal structure around artificial intelligence priorities.
A newly expanded division called Applied AI and Engineering, reportedly led by engineering vice president Maher Saba, has absorbed around 2,000 employees.
Internal reports suggest that some managers in the division are now overseeing teams of nearly 50 employees each as Meta accelerates development in AI products and infrastructure.
Employee frustration grows over surveillance and uncertainty
The weeks leading up to the layoffs reportedly created severe anxiety inside Meta.
According to internal discussions cited in reports, employees spent weeks waiting for decisions while monitoring internal systems, signing petitions and discussing morale concerns anonymously online.
More than 1,500 employees reportedly signed a petition opposing Meta's internal employee activity tracking systems linked to AI training initiatives. Workers raised concerns over the monitoring of keystrokes, mouse movements and screen activity under an internal program known as the Model Capability Initiative.
Internal morale reportedly hit record lows on workplace discussion platforms, with employees sharing jokes, countdown websites and sarcastic posts about the layoffs.
Meta bets heavily on AI despite investor concerns
Meta's aggressive AI spending strategy has also raised concerns among investors. The company's stock reportedly dropped following its earnings call after executives outlined the scale of upcoming AI-related expenditure.
Despite the backlash and uncertainty, Zuckerberg closed his memo by insisting that artificial intelligence remains the company's biggest long-term opportunity.
He described AI as "the most consequential technology of our lifetimes" and argued that Meta must continue restructuring rapidly to remain competitive in the global AI race.