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Meta Cuts 8,000 Jobs, Announces $135 B AI Budget

4/25/2026

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Summary

Story summary

Meta Platforms Inc. will lay off 8,000 employees, about 10% of its workforce, beginning May 20.
Chief people officer Janelle Gale said the cuts aim to improve efficiency and offset other investments.
The memo also states Meta will not fill 6,000 open positions.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said a $135 billion AI budget for 2026 will make that year when AI dramatically changes work.

History

Historical Context

In April 1993 IBM, under new outsider CEO Lou Gerstner, launched a sweeping restructuring that triggered the company’s first mass layoff, ultimately cutting more than 100,000 jobs and shrinking the workforce to about 220,000 by 1994. Decades later Meta Platforms announced a comparable wave of layoffs, echoing IBM’s precedent that large-scale cuts can accelerate strategic pivots such as its shift toward AI services.

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Story summary

Meta Platforms Inc. will lay off 8,000 employees, about 10% of its workforce, beginning May 20.
Chief people officer Janelle Gale said the cuts aim to improve efficiency and offset other investments.
The memo also states Meta will not fill 6,000 open positions.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg said a $135 billion AI budget for 2026 will make that year when AI dramatically changes work.

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