Additional Coverage:
- Meta begins cutting thousands of jobs in sweeping layoffs. Here’s how much it’s paying in severance. (businessinsider.com)
Meta Begins Notifying Employees of Layoffs Affecting About 10% of Workforce
Meta has started sending layoff notices to roughly 10% of its approximately 78,000 employees, marking a significant reduction expected to eliminate around 8,000 positions, including several managerial roles. According to an internal memo from Meta’s Chief Human Resources Officer, Janelle Gale, the notifications are being dispatched in three waves at 4 a.m. local time on May 20 across various regions.
For U.S.-based employees impacted by the layoffs, the severance package includes 16 weeks of base pay plus an additional two weeks for each year of continuous service. In addition, Meta is offering 18 months of healthcare coverage for employees and their families-tripling the duration previously provided. Employees outside the U.S. will receive comparable packages tailored to local regulations.
In comparison, other tech companies have recently offered varying severance terms: fintech firm Block provided 20 weeks of salary plus one week per year of tenure along with six months of healthcare, while Amazon extended three months of full pay and healthcare benefits alongside an additional severance package.
Gale emphasized in her memo that the company aims to flatten its organizational structure by reducing managerial layers, fostering smaller, more agile teams with greater ownership and faster decision-making capabilities.
Since the announcement of the impending layoffs on April 23, employee morale has reportedly been low, with many staff members working amid uncertainty about their futures. Meta has communicated that these workforce reductions are intended to improve operational efficiency and support ongoing investments, particularly in artificial intelligence initiatives.
As part of its strategic pivot, Meta plans to reassign over 7,000 employees to AI-focused projects, reflecting the company’s commitment to leading in this fast-evolving sector. In April, Meta projected capital expenditures between $125 billion and $145 billion by 2026 to fuel such innovation.
While this round of layoffs affects about 10% of the workforce, company leaders have indicated that further reductions are not off the table.
Meta has not provided additional comments as of this time.