MW Meta reportedly eyes more layoffs, targeting 10% of staff
By Christine Ji
The social-media giant is aiming to cut around 8,000 employees in May as it continues to invest heavily in AI products
Analysts expect Meta to save up to $10 billion annually by reducing its workforce as it shifts focus to Meta Superintelligence Labs.
Meta Platforms is reportedly planning yet another round of layoffs as the company aims to tighten its focus on artificial intelligence.
On Friday, Reuters reported that Meta (META) is preparing to lay off around 10% of its workforce, or 8,000 employees. The cuts are scheduled for May 20, and more layoffs are expected in the second half of the year, per the report.
Representatives from Meta did not immediately respond to a MarketWatch request for comment.
Last month, Reuters reported that the social-media giant was considering laying off up to 20% of its workforce. The initial rumors were met with positive reactions from Wall Street, with analysts anticipating up to a 5% boost to earnings per share. In a March note, Morgan Stanley analyst Brian Nowak estimated that a 20% workforce reduction could save between $3 billion and $10 billion annually and increase earnings per share by over $1 in 2027.
With "vibe coding" and other AI advancements increasing productivity, many companies are looking to reduce costs by shrinking their workforce. Earlier this week, Snap (SNAP) announced layoffs to 16% of its staff, citing AI efficiencies as a key reason.
As Meta looks to cut its head-count costs, the company is spending aggressively in other areas. Last week, it expanded its agreement with cloud provider CoreWeave (CRWV) to purchase an additional $21 billion of compute.
Read: Meta may lay off 20% of staff while making two big statements about AI
Meta has already been significantly scaling back its head count in its Reality Labs division, laying off 1,500 people in January. Reality Labs, which is responsible for the company's virtual- and augmented-reality products such as the metaverse, lost over $19 billion in 2025.
The company has been funneling resources into Meta Superintelligence Labs, its AI effort formed last summer and headed by Alexandr Wang. Earlier this month, Meta unveiled its new AI model Muse Spark to a positive reception, providing a boost to its stock. Shares of Meta have rallied 20% since the announcement.
Muse Spark is the first in a new series of models, succeeding Meta's previous open-source efforts with its Llama series. The model boasts multimodal perception, meaning that it can interpret visual formats.
In the Muse Spark announcement, Meta also hinted to larger and more powerful AI models in development, as well as enhanced AI glasses.
Meta shares rose 1.7% Friday's regular trading, but were down 0.1% in the after-hours session.
See more: 'It's time to buy Meta.' Why Morgan Stanley sees 45% upside for the stock.
-Christine Ji
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April 17, 2026 17:56 ET (21:56 GMT)
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