Informed sources reported that Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is planning a significant reduction in the number of its employees, which may reach 20% or more.
The sources explained to Reuters that this measure comes within the framework of the company’s efforts to compensate for the huge investments it has made in artificial intelligence infrastructure, in addition to preparing to raise the level of efficiency provided by work supported by artificial intelligence.
No specific date has been set for the implementation of these layoffs, nor has the exact number of employees who will be included in this procedure been decided upon, according to the sources.
Two sources reported that senior Meta executives had recently informed other senior management officials about the matter and asked them to start planning how to reduce the number of employees.
In response to questions about this plan, Meta spokesman Andy Stone said: “This is a report based on speculation about theoretical perceptions.”
If Meta decides to implement a 20% reduction, this will be the largest layoff the company has witnessed since the restructuring it implemented in late 2022 and early 2023, which it called the “Year of Efficiency.”
The number of the company’s employees reached about 79,000 employees as of December 31, according to its latest disclosure.
In November 2022, the company laid off 11,000 employees, representing 13% of its total workforce at the time. About four months later, it announced the layoff of another 10,000 employees.
Throughout the past year, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been urging the company to boost its competitive edge in generative AI.
The company offered attractive salary packages, some worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years, with the aim of attracting the best artificial intelligence researchers to join its new team specializing in superintelligence.
The company announced its plans to invest $600 billion to build data centers by 2028.
