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Or sign-in if you have an account.Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg attends a dinner hosted by U.S. President Donald Trump on Sept. 4, 2025. Photo by SAUL LOEB /AFP via Getty ImagesMeta Platforms Inc. is alerting thousands of employees that they’re being laid off, part of a previously announced restructuring aimed at reducing costs while the company invests heavily in artificial intelligence.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Enjoy the latest local, national and international news.Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events.Unlimited online access to National Post.National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on.Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword.Support local journalism.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one account.Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments.Enjoy additional articles per month.Get email updates from your favourite authors.Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience.Access articles from across Canada with one accountShare your thoughts and join the conversation in the commentsEnjoy additional articles per monthGet email updates from your favourite authorsSign In or Create an AccountorThe company notified workers around the world Wednesday morning, starting with employees across Asia, who got the note at 4 a.m. Singapore time. US..-based staff received word during their morning.Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg posted internally Wednesday that the firm does “not expect other company-wide layoffs this year,” adding that it needs to do a better job communicating with employees, according to the memo, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News.Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format.By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc.A welcome email is on its way. If you don't see it, please check your junk folder.The next issue of NP Posted will soon be in your inbox.We encountered an issue signing you up. Please try again“This is the most dynamic I have seen our industry,” Zuckerberg wrote, adding that he’s optimistic about Meta’s position in the AI race and its ability to deliver AI super-intelligence to users. “We’re transforming our company to make sure it will always be the best place for talented people to have the greatest impact.”Employees were encouraged to work from home while the company cut roughly 8,000 roles globally. The latest round of cuts is expected to hit Meta’s engineering and product teams in particular, said people familiar with the company’s plans, who asked not to be named as the information is not public.In Ireland, the company cut around 350 jobs, an estimated fifth of its workforce there, according to a person familiar with the matter who asked not to be identified as the information is private. A Meta representative declined to comment on specific cuts but said the company has notified affected employees and the Irish government.“Automators like Meta risk no longer being an employer of choice as it’s being revealed that they will cut out the human when the opportunity presents itself,” said Jan-Emmanuel De Neve, professor of economics and behavioural science at the University of Oxford. “Doing so might well lead to short-term cost savings but risks longer-term growth potential by undermining employee wellbeing and engagement.”On Monday, Meta informed staff that some 7,000 workers have also been reassigned to newly formed teams that are focused on AI initiatives, including products and agents. The company, which has committed well in excess of $100 billion to AI capital expenditures this year, had just under 80,000 employees at the end of March, ahead of the reassignments and layoffs.“We’re now at the stage where many orgs can operate with a flatter structure with smaller teams of pods/cohorts that can move faster and with more ownership,” Meta’s Head of People Janelle Gale said in the memo Monday, which was reviewed by Bloomberg News. “We believe this will make us more productive and make the work more rewarding.”Zuckerberg has made AI the company’s top priority, committing all resources to keeping pace with rivals like Alphabet Inc.’s Google and OpenAI. That’s led to changes to Meta’s workforce and the way it operates.The company has gone through waves of layoffs over recent years, as Zuckerberg has pushed for increased efficiency. He has encouraged engineers to use AI agents to assist with coding and other tasks, outlined plans to track employees’ devices to improve the technology, and spent time coding his own AI-powered assistant to handle some of his CEO duties, like soliciting employee feedback.These changes have left Meta employees both frustrated and anxious. More than a thousand have signed a petition addressed to Zuckerberg and other leaders of the company demanding that it refrain from collecting their data from devices — which can be as granular as gathering keystrokes, mouse movements and screen content — in the effort to train AI. Others have taken to social media to post about how the threat of layoffs has impacted their work and morale.Meta’s aggressive spending on AI has caused concern among investors, who worry that the company’s investment may not ultimately pay off. While Meta has framed the layoffs as an opportunity to “offset” the cost of some of its major AI investments, analysts at Evercore estimate the cuts will generate only about US$3 billion in savings.That’s just a small portion of Meta’s projected capital expenditures this year, which could hit US$145 billion, and the additional hundreds of billions that the company anticipates spending on AI infrastructure before the end of the decade.Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark nationalpost.com and sign up for our newsletters here. Join the Conversation This website uses cookies to personalize your content (including ads), and allows us to analyze our traffic. Read more about cookies here. By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.