Big tech giants Meta and Microsoft are undertaking significant workforce reductions, impacting thousands of employees. Meta announced plans to cut 10 per cent of its workforce, totaling roughly 8,000 employees, with these cuts scheduled to begin on May 20.
Furthermore, the social media company stated that it would not fill 6,000 open roles. In an internal memo from Meta’s head of human resources, Janelle Gale, the company cited these actions as part of an effort to run the business more efficiently and to help offset other investments. These ‘other investments’ are primarily tied to artificial intelligence.
Meta is reportedly dedicating substantial resources to building its own AI models and training them using its internal staff. The company also plans to leverage AI capabilities within its smart glasses. The news of these layoffs is part of a broader trend of expense trimming in the big tech sector, driven by billions of dollars being poured into data centers and infrastructure needed for AI services.
Meta’s contraction appears ongoing; earlier reports indicated a potential downsizing of up to 20 percent. Previously, the company had cut hundreds of jobs, mainly within its Reality Labs division, and also slashed its metaverse operations with the closure of three VR studios.
Separately, Microsoft also issued a memo offering voluntary buyouts to thousands of its US employees. According to one source, about 7 per cent of the US workforce would be eligible for the buyouts. Microsoft, which had 125,000 employees in the US as of June 2025, would see approximately 8,750 workers eligible for the program.
These major corporate restructuring efforts involve both Meta and Microsoft, which are also planning or announcing buyouts that could potentially affect as many as 23,000 jobs in total.