Meta is reportedly 'reassigning' 7,000 employees to AI-focused roles

Source: Engadget

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Reassignment of Employees to AI‑Focused Roles

Meta is not only laying off thousands of workers on Wednesday due to artificial intelligence, it is also moving a large number of staff to new internal groups. According to Reuters and The New York Times, Meta HR head Janelle Gale notified employees that 7,000 of them will be transferred to four new organizations focused on building AI tools and apps.

In the internal memo, Gale wrote that the restructuring “will make [the company] more productive and make the work more rewarding.” The new organizations will employ “AI‑native design structures” and will have fewer management layers per employee. Employees were instructed to work from home on Wednesday, May 20, and to await a follow‑up email about their possible new roles, although some transfers had already taken place.

Ongoing Layoffs

Meta announced in late April that it is cutting 8,000 jobs and closing 6,000 open positions. Gale’s earlier memo framed the cuts as “part of [Meta’s] continued effort to run the company more efficiently” and as a way to offset other investments, most likely referring to the company’s AI initiatives.

Workers affected by the layoffs will receive 16 weeks of severance pay, plus an additional two weeks for each year of service. Reuters reports that Meta may announce further job cuts later this year.

Meta’s Broader AI Strategy

After scaling back its metaverse ambitions, Meta is heavily investing in AI:

• Planning to build data centers with “tens of gigawatts” of capacity within the decade.
• Created a “superintelligence” team of AI experts, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg personally recruiting candidates.
• Developing AI agents and integrating its AI chatbot across multiple products.
• According to The Times, Zuckerberg told investors that Meta intends to spend $115 billion to $135 billion this year, primarily on AI development.

Impact

By the end of 2025, Meta employed roughly 78,000 people. The 8,000‑person layoff represents nearly 10 % of the workforce. The reassignment of 7,000 employees to AI‑focused groups underscores the company’s shift toward artificial‑intelligence‑driven products and services.