Meta Platforms, the company behind social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is reportedly considering major job cuts that could impact up to 20 percent of its global workforce. According to a Reuters report, the potential layoffs could affect about 16,000 employees, based on the company’s workforce of roughly 79,000 as of December 31, as Meta looks for ways to manage the rising costs linked to its growing investments in artificial intelligence.

The company is evaluating the possibility of large scale layoffs as it prepares for a future where AI powered tools could significantly improve productivity and reduce the need for large teams. However, the plans are still under consideration and no final decision or timeline has been confirmed. Senior executives at Meta have recently discussed the possibility of workforce reductions with other leaders and have asked them to explore ways to simplify operations and improve efficiency.

Responding to the report, Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said the claims were speculative and described them as reporting about theoretical approaches. If the company proceeds with layoffs at the scale being discussed, it would represent the largest round of job cuts since the restructuring carried out in 2022 and 2023, which Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg had described as the company’s “year of efficiency”.

During that earlier restructuring period, Meta laid off around 11,000 employees in November 2022 and followed it with another 10,000 job cuts in early 2023 as part of efforts to reduce costs and reorganise the business. The current discussions come as Meta sharply increases spending on generative AI, which has become a central focus for the company. The tech giant plans to invest as much as 600 billion dollars in building data centres by 2028 to strengthen the computing infrastructure required to train and run large AI models.

Meta has also been actively recruiting leading talent in the AI sector, offering compensation packages worth hundreds of millions of dollars over four years to build a specialised superintelligence team aimed at accelerating AI development. Along with hiring researchers, the company has also been pursuing acquisitions and partnerships in the AI space. It recently acquired Moltbook, a social networking platform designed for AI agents, and is reportedly spending at least 2 billion dollars to purchase the Chinese AI startup Manus. Zuckerberg has suggested that advances in AI could bring significant efficiency improvements within the organisation. Earlier this year, he said that projects that once required large teams are increasingly being completed by a single highly skilled individual using AI tools.

The developments at Meta reflect a broader trend across the technology sector, where companies are reshaping their workforces while increasing investments in AI. For example, Amazon confirmed in January that it would cut around 16,000 jobs, while fintech company Block, led by Jack Dorsey, recently reduced nearly half of its workforce, citing the growing capabilities of AI systems. Meta’s renewed focus on AI also comes after challenges with earlier versions of its Llama 4 models. The company faced criticism over benchmark results linked to early releases and eventually cancelled the launch of its largest planned version, known as Behemoth. Its AI research team is now working on a new model called Avocado, although reports suggest that its performance has not yet met expectations.