News about Meta’s massive layoffs are now a daily occurrence. Mark Zuckerberg’s company is proceeding with large-scale cuts, involving several hundred employees across various divisions of the company, including Reality Labs, Facebook, sales, recruiting, and advertising, while continuing to invest heavily in artificial intelligence.
LAYOFFS AND THE DIVISIONS INVOLVED
Staff reductions affect both U.S. and international offices. Some employees have received offers for new roles or the opportunity to relocate to other sites to remain with the company, while part of the Reality Labs division has been asked to work remotely not as a reward but in preparation for the cuts.
According to a source cited by the New York Times, “teams across Meta regularly reorganize or introduce changes to ensure they are best positioned to achieve their goals. Wherever possible, we are identifying other opportunities for employees whose roles may be affected.”
THE ECONOMIC CONTEXT
The layoffs, explains Bloomberg, are part of Meta’s strategy to offset rising costs related to investments in artificial intelligence, with expenses expected between $115 and $135 billion in 2026 for AI infrastructure and data centers, double that of 2025. According to what Zuckerberg stated, 2026 will be a crucial year for AI goals, and the technology will change the company’s workflows.
Meta has also planned investments up to $600 billion in infrastructure in the United States by 2028. The company, report Quartz and Reuters, has nearly 79,000 employees globally, and the current cuts involve fewer than 1,000 units at this stage, although some sources have indicated they could reach up to 20% of the workforce, or about 15,000 jobs.
FOCUS ON THE REALITY LABS DIVISION
Reality Labs, responsible for developing Quest headsets and the Horizon Worlds app, had already undergone cuts between 10% and 15% of staff earlier this year, involving over 1,000 employees. The division, states the Seattle Times, has recorded significant losses, amounting to $76.9 billion since 2021, compared to $352 billion in profits generated by Meta’s apps.
The recent cuts, according to Quartz, indicate a reduction in resources allocated to metaverse development, while the company continues to fund AI-integrated wearable devices.
INVESTMENTS AND TALENT IN AI
Recently, Meta has accelerated hiring specialists in artificial intelligence and generative agents, with strategic agreements such as the one with the startup Dreamer, whose staff will join the Meta Superintelligence Labs, bringing Hugo Barra back to the company. Furthermore, these investments reflect the company’s goal to strengthen its position in AI compared to competitors like OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google.
INCENTIVES FOR EXECUTIVES
Alongside the layoffs, Meta has also announced a new stock option program for executives, including Susan Li, Andrew Bosworth, Christopher Cox, and Javier Olivan, as a tool to retain them while the company continues to invest in AI.
“This is a big bet – a spokesperson said -. These compensation packages will not materialize unless Meta achieves enormous future success, benefiting all our shareholders. As with all stock options, their value is realized only if the stock price significantly exceeds the exercise price, and in this case, it must do so within an extremely aggressive five-year timeframe.”
