Meta Cuts Several Hundred Jobs, Shifting Resources Toward AI Development

Meta Platforms Inc. cut several hundred jobs Wednesday as part of a restructuring effort hitting multiple teams, including sales, recruiting and the Reality Labs hardware division. Fox Business, citing a source familiar with the matter, put the figure at roughly 700. The cuts span employees in the U.S. and other international markets.

The reductions swept across several different organizations within the company, including Facebook, global operations, recruiting, sales and its virtual reality division Reality Labs, according to a source familiar with the company's plans. Some members of the Reality Labs division were asked to work remotely Wednesday in preparation for the cuts, according to two people familiar with the announcement. Some impacted employees are being offered new roles within the company; in some cases, those new positions will require relocation.

"Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they're in the best position to achieve their goals," a Meta spokesperson said. "Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted."

The cuts mark the second time Meta has trimmed its workforce in 2026. In January, the company laid off 10% of its staff in the Reality Labs division; The New York Times reported that those cuts affected roughly 1,000 employees out of a total Reality Labs workforce of about 15,000. That round also shuttered a number of studios working on VR titles. Reality Labs, which Bloomberg has described as "the internal division developing futuristic hardware like AI glasses and virtual reality headsets," has now absorbed the bulk of Meta's 2026 workforce reductions.

The restructuring is unfolding as Meta commits to spending at a scale that would have seemed extraordinary even a year ago. The layoffs reflect Meta's effort to realign resources toward artificial intelligence while reducing spending in areas that have not delivered proportionate returns; the company has forecast capital expenditure of between $115 billion and $135 billion in 2026, covering AI infrastructure including data centers and servers. Separately, Meta faces a projected $162 billion to $169 billion in total expenses for 2026, driven largely by its pivot toward artificial intelligence.

The layoffs come as Meta has been refocusing its efforts and pouring billions of dollars into artificial intelligence, racing to catch up to rivals like OpenAI, Anthropic and Google. The company has been aggressively recruiting talent specializing in generative AI and AI agents, including a licensing arrangement with the startup Dreamer, whose staff will join Meta Superintelligence Labs, bringing co-founder Hugo Barra back to the company after a five-year absence.

Meta shares rose nearly 3% earlier in March after Reuters reported the company could slash more than 20% of its workforce; a Meta spokesperson called that report "a speculative report about theoretical approaches." Such a cut would have eliminated approximately 15,800 positions from a roughly 79,000-person workforce. Wednesday's reductions landed well below that threshold, though the company has not ruled out further restructuring.