Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs and Cancels 6,000 Open Roles While Pouring $145B Into AI Infrastructure

NPR·high signal

Meta began notifying roughly 8,000 employees of layoffs on May 20 — about 10% of its workforce — in the largest restructuring since Zuckerberg's 2022-2023 'Year of Efficiency' that eliminated 21,000 positions. Another 7,000 employees are being moved to AI-focused roles and 6,000 open positions were cancelled, all while Meta reported record $56.31B quarterly revenue and projects $125-145B in 2026 capex (more than double 2025). Affected teams include integrity, cybersecurity, and content design — raising questions about safety infrastructure as the company pivots resources to AI.