Meta Announces Major Reorganisation: 7,000 Staff Move to AI, 8,000 Made Redundant
The parent company of Facebook and Instagram, Meta, is reportedly undertaking a sweeping restructuring of its organisation. The plan moves about 7,000 employees into AI‑focused roles and includes layoffs affecting around 8,000 staff, representing about 10% of the workforce. Internal sources say the restructuring will consolidate teams into four new organisations, part of Meta’s push to prioritise AI development amid intensifying global technology competition.
The changes were outlined in an internal memo in April 2026. In addition to moving thousands of staff to the AI division, Meta will also cut roughly 8,000 employees and leave about 6,000 roles unfilled.
Head of People at Meta, Janelle Gale, said in the memo that the decision is part of ongoing efforts to run the company more efficiently. ‘This isn’t an easy trade-off and means letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta,’ she wrote.
Affected employees are expected to receive formal notification via email on Wednesday morning local time. The layoffs follow hundreds of job cuts in March that affected Reality Labs, the Facebook social team, sales, and global operations.
Meta’s Chief Financial Officer, Susan Li, on the first-quarter 2026 earnings call, stressed the company’s focus on leveraging AI tools to boost productivity. Meta even raised its capital expenditure guidance for 2026 to between US$125 billion and US$145 billion.
While aggressive in developing AI, investors appear cautious. Meta’s shares are down about 9% so far this year, ranking fifth among the Magnificent Seven behind Tesla and Microsoft.
A JPMorgan Chase analyst downgraded Meta’s rating, saying the company faces a more challenging path to return on capital than its AI rivals. Bank of America warned that the AI investment cycle may be larger than expected with outcomes not yet clear compared with cloud service providers.
As of the end of March 2026, Meta employed 77,986 workers, a significant decline from its 2022 peak of 86,482. The transformation marks a new chapter in its bid to dominate the future tech landscape through deeper AI integration. Meta has begun tracking keystrokes and mouse clicks from employees to train AI models, even as layoffs loom and AI investments reach US$140 billion.