Social media giant Meta plans a major layoff of 10%, or around 8,000 employees, next month and will freeze hiring for open positions. This follows CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s pivot to invest $135 billion in AI within a single year, aiming to use technology to boost work efficiency instead of human labor.
Meta informed employees via an internal memo that it plans to lay off about 10% of its workforce, roughly 8,000 positions. The company also decided to cancel hiring for several thousand previously advertised vacancies.
The main reason for these layoffs is a shift in the company’s spending structure. In 2026, Meta plans to invest up to $135 billion (approximately 4.39 trillion baht) in artificial intelligence, an amount nearly equal to the total AI budget over the past three years combined.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s co-founder and CEO, signaled workforce reductions earlier this year. He noted that employees using AI tools have dramatically improved productivity, enabling a single person to complete projects that once required large teams. Zuckerberg emphasized the company’s new direction: "I believe 2026 will be the year AI completely transforms the way we work."
Besides layoffs, this week Meta informed employees it will start monitoring and recording computer usage at work to "train" or develop the company’s AI models. Some employees view this as disheartening, especially amid growing job insecurity.
This cut of 8,000 jobs represents Meta’s largest layoff since 2023, although last year the company resumed hiring, nearly restoring its workforce to pre-layoff levels.
Meta is not alone in this trend; many global tech companies are cutting jobs to redirect funds toward AI infrastructure. Amazon laid off over 30,000 workers, Oracle cut more than 10,000, Block reduced nearly half its staff (around 4,000), and Microsoft recently offered voluntary departure packages to thousands of long-serving employees.
Almost all these companies cite similar reasons: the increased capabilities of AI technology and the massive investments required have reduced the need for human labor at previous levels, according to executives.
,BBC