Mark Zuckerberg held a town hall meeting at the company on April 30 to directly address Meta employees about the layoffs. It was the first time he had spoken to staff about the cuts since Reuters first reported on the plan in March.
What he said did not reassure them. And what he didn’t say may have worried them even more.
What Zuckerberg told Meta employees about layoffs
Zuckerberg was direct about why the layoffs are happening. “We basically have two main cost centers in the company: the IT infrastructure and the people-oriented things,” he said in the session.
“If we’re investing more in one area to serve our community, that means we have less capital to allocate to the other. That means we need to downsize the company a little bit.”
More layoffs:
On whether more cuts will come, he declined to offer certainty. “I wish I could tell you that I have a crystal ball plan for the next three years for how all of these things are going to play out,” he said. “I don’t. I don’t think anyone does.”
He also addressed a concern circulating internally: that AI tools are making human roles redundant. “Getting everyone to use AI tools internally and doing work more efficiently is not what is driving the layoffs,” he said.
But he added: “We’ll see how this all develops,” Reuters noted.
What Meta’s CFO said about the workforce
Chief Financial Officer Susan Li added a detail that is likely to make employees even more concerned. According to Benzinga, Meta does not yet know what its “optimal” size will be in the long term, given the pace of AI advancement.
Li acknowledged that lower compensation costs for employees are expected following the layoffs. But those savings will be offset this year by restructuring costs tied to the cuts themselves. The net financial benefit will come later, Benzinga noted.
The magnitude of the layoffs that are already occurring in Meta
The May 20 round alone is substantial. Meta plans to cut approximately 8,000 employees, representing about 10% of its global workforce of 78,865 people, according to TNW. The company is also eliminating approximately 6,000 vacant positions before they are filled.
But May 20 is not the beginning of this process. In January, Meta laid off approximately 1,000 to 1,500 Reality Labs employees and closed several virtual reality game studios, TNW noted. In March, it cut another 700 employees in at least five divisions. Zuckerberg’s total cuts from 2022 now amount to approximately 25,000.
The cuts affect teams at Reality Labs, Facebook’s social division, recruiting, sales and global operations. California WARN Act filings confirm 124 positions at Meta’s Burlingame office as of May 22 and 74 at its Sunnyvale facility as of May 29, KRON4 reported.
According to Reuters, additional cuts planned for the second half of 2026 have not been finalized in terms of timing or scope.
Why Meta is cutting jobs while generating record profits
This is where the employee reaction becomes understandable. Meta is not a company in trouble. Its revenue in 2025 reached $201 billion, a year-on-year increase of 22%. First quarter 2026 revenue was $56.31 billion, exceeding Wall Street expectations of $55.45 billion. Free cash flow for 2025 was $43.6 billion, according to TNW.
The cuts are being driven by the other side of the balance sheet. Meta raised its 2026 capital spending forecast to $125 billion to $145 billion, up from $115 billion to $135 billion. That spending goes toward AI infrastructure, model development and the construction of Meta’s superintelligence labs under the direction of AI chief Alexandr Wang, Benzinga confirmed.
Bank of America projects the restructuring will generate between $7 billion and $8 billion in annualized savings, TNW noted. The question employees ask is not whether math works. It’s about whether a company that generates $201 billion in annual revenue needs to lay off thousands of people to fund a $125 billion AI bet.
Key figures from the dismissal announcement and from the Meta city council:
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Employees who will be cut starting May 20: Approximately 8,000, or 10% of the workforce
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Open roles are eliminated: Approximately 6,000
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Total meta cuts since 2022: Approximately 25,000
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Additional cuts planned for the second half of 2026, schedule not final
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Income Goal 2025: $201 billion, an increase of 22% year over year
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Capital spending guide for Meta 2026: Between 125,000 and 145,000 million dollars
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Projected annualized savings from restructuring: Between 7,000 and 8,000 million dollars, estimates Bank of America
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META share price at the close of April 30: $611.91, 8.55% less
Sources: TNW, Reuters, Benzinga
How Meta employees are responding internally
The reaction within Meta has not been calm. Employees have openly criticized Zuckerberg and other company leaders on Meta’s internal message board over the changes, based on copies of the comments seen by Reuters.
The frustration is understandable. Meta increased its workforce by 6% last year, even as Zuckerberg publicly said AI would allow the company to do more with fewer people, according to TNW.
Many employees joined or stayed based on signs that the company was growing. The shift toward large-scale cuts appears abrupt. And the suggestion that they can go further gives them little certainty about their future.
There’s also the context of how these cuts came along with a new employee monitoring initiative that tracks mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes. The combination of surveillance and layoffs has increased internal unrest, Reuters noted.
What Meta’s downsizing means going forward
For employees, the April 30 town hall offered honesty but not comfort. Zuckerberg didn’t intend for May’s job cuts to be the end. He said he doesn’t have a crystal ball. That’s at least sincere. But for someone wondering if their role is secure, candor without clarity is its own kind of stress.
For investors, the picture is different. The annualized savings of between $7 billion and $8 billion are significant. A more agile company that invests aggressively in AI could emerge with stronger margins and a more competitive product range. Shares fell nearly 9% on April 30, but that reflected both lost profits and increased capital spending and layoffs.
Both groups face the same uncertainty that Zuckerberg acknowledged. Meta is making a huge and expensive bet on AI. You don’t yet know how many people you need to execute that bet. And it is not decided yet.
Related: Mark Zuckerberg’s new bet on AI will help avoid another metaverse
This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 2, 2026, where it first appeared in the Technology section. Add TheStreet as a preferred source by clicking here.