Meta Job Cuts Expected to Continue Through February
Meta began notifying employees affected by its previously announced job cuts on Monday (Feb. 10). The company’s emails notifying those who were being let go marked the beginning of a process that is expected to continue through the end of Meta’s performance cycle that goes to the end of February and result in terminations of as many as 3,600 employees, Bloomberg reported Monday. While U.S. staffers are being notified Monday, international employees could learn later, according to the report. With this headcount reduction, Meta aims to lay off “low performers” before adding new talent that will aid the company’s competitiveness in the artificial intelligence market, the report said.
Challenging Year Ahead for Meta
It was reported in January that Meta planned to cut about 5% of its workforce and that the employees affected by the cuts would be notified Feb. 10. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg wrote at the time in an internal message: “Meta is working on building some of the most important technologies of the world. AI, glasses as the next computing platform and the future of social media. This is going to be an intense year, and I want to make sure we have the best people on our teams.”
Rise in AI Investments
It was reported Friday (Feb. 7) that AI investments by the four biggest tech firms — Amazon, Google, Meta and Microsoft — jumped 63% last year and will jump again in 2025 to reach a combined capital expenditure that could surpass $320 billion. Executives at these companies are pledging to up their investments in AI, pushing aside worries about the massive amounts they’re spending on the technology.
Decisive Year for Meta’s Metaverse Efforts
This year will also be a decisive one for Meta’s metaverse efforts. It was reported Feb. 3 that Meta Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth told employees in Reality Labs — the home of Meta’s metaverse and wearables products — that “this year likely determines whether this entire effort will go down as the work of visionaries or a legendary misadventure.”
During Meta’s latest earnings call, Zuckerberg told analysts that while the number of users of the company’s Quest and Horizon offerings has been growing, “we’re going to know a lot more about Horizon’s trajectory by the end of this year.”
