Meta to Lay Off Thousands as Focus Shifts to AI Development

Meta announces plans to terminate thousands of employees as the company pivots its strategy toward advancing artificial intelligence technologies, marking a major shift in its operations.

According to an internal memo by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, cited by Bloomberg and other media on Tuesday, thousands of Meta employees may face layoffs this year as part of broader performance-based reductions.

According to the memo allegedly distributed to all Meta employees, the company plans to reduce its workforce by approximately 5%, targeting those it deems as its lowest performers. The year 2025 is expected to be “an intense year.” Those impacted will be informed by February 10 and will receive a “generous severance” package consistent with what has been offered in the past.

The CEO announced that he had “decided to raise the standards for performance management.” He mentioned that while the company usually phases out employees not meeting expectations over a year, it now intends to implement “more extensive performance-based reductions” more quickly.

These measures mark Meta’s most significant layoffs since it reduced its workforce by 21,000 positions—almost a quarter of its staff—in 2022 and 2023. According to the latest quarterly report, the company currently employs over 72,000 people.

Last week, Zuckerberg revealed that Meta intends to substitute mid-level engineers with Artificial Intelligence (AI) this year. He proposed that the technology might soon take over a significant portion of coding tasks presently done by human engineers.

In a significant policy shift, the tech giant has declared that it will discontinue its fact-checking service due to concerns about “political bias.” The company plans to adopt an approach similar to Elon Musk’s platform X’s ‘Community Notes’ system. Additionally, it announced the removal of rules restricting discussions on topics such as immigration and gender identity.

Meta has opted to discontinue its diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) programs and adjust its hiring practices that once considered applicants’ gender and racial backgrounds. These changes are reportedly being implemented throughout the company’s offices. Notable examples include the directive to remove tampons from men’s restrooms, along with transgender and non-binary themes being eliminated from Meta’s messenger app.

Zuckerberg mentioned that the recent political climate in the US, particularly Donald Trump’s election, influenced these changes.