Meta is reportedly considering cutting up to 16,000 jobs to accelerate its AI strategy.

Meta could once again undertake a major reduction in its workforce, following a highly publicized wave of cuts in 2025. The company is reportedly considering eliminating up to 20% of its positions, or nearly 16,000 jobs.

While nothing has been officially confirmed at this stage, these signs indicate that Meta's priority now seems clearly to be artificial intelligence…

Up to 16,000 jobs at risk at Meta

According to Reuters, Meta has begun preparing its executives for further cost-cutting measures. With approximately 79,000 employees at the end of 2025, a 20% cut would represent nearly 15,800 to 16,000 jobs eliminated. The group's spokesperson, however, referred to the article as "speculative," based on theoretical scenarios, without confirming any final decision. If this plan materializes, it would be the largest wave of layoffs at Meta since the 2023 crisis. At the time, these restructurings were part of what Mark Zuckerberg called his "year of efficiency." But this time, the logic seems different, as it would no longer be simply a matter of correcting the over-recruitment inherited from the Covid period, but of financing a much sharper strategic shift towards generative AI... AI becomes Mark Zuckerberg's top priority. For several months, Meta has been increasing its spending on AI, whether with data centers, new models, or the recruitment of highly skilled professionals. sought-after companies, or targeted acquisitions like Manus or, more recently, Moltbook. Thus, downsizing appears to be a budgetary lever, and Mark Zuckerberg readily acknowledges this trend. Indeed, he recently stated that some projects that once required large teams can now be led by a single person, aided by AI tools. A statement that pretty much sums up Meta's new doctrine: automate more, focus resources on the most strategic talent, and streamline the rest.

This repositioning also comes at the expense of other, older ventures where, after massively investing in the metaverse, Meta seems to have been gradually scaling back since last December, due to a lack of genuine public enthusiasm.

A broader trend in Silicon Valley

Meta is not an isolated case, and across the tech sector, large companies continue to reduce their workforce while simultaneously pouring considerable sums into AI.

Whether at Amazon, Microsoft, or Google, they are all following similar trajectories, with the aim of containing human costs to finance infrastructure, chips, models, and recruitment.

targeted.

These potential layoffs are therefore not the result of a cost-cutting measure, but of a genuine change in business model. At Meta, as elsewhere, the promise of AI is already redefining how we invest, recruit, and eliminate positions…