Meta lays out details of May 20 restructuring in internal document

Meta Platforms Inc. has outlined significant changes to its workforce and organizational structure in a memo shared with employees on Monday. The company, which owns Facebook, is set to lay off approximately 10% of its global workforce on Wednesday, with further cuts anticipated later in the year. This restructuring is part of a broader initiative to enhance the company’s artificial intelligence (AI) workflows, reflecting a strategic pivot towards integrating AI into both its products and internal operations.

In the memo, Meta's Chief People Officer, Janelle Gale, indicated that the company plans to reassign 7,000 employees to new initiatives focused on AI workflows, while also eliminating certain managerial positions. Gale emphasized that as organizational leaders developed these changes, many incorporated AI-native design principles into their new structures. This shift aims to create a flatter organizational hierarchy, enabling smaller teams, or pods, to operate with greater agility and ownership.

AI Overhaul Drives Restructuring

The restructuring at Meta is part of a comprehensive overhaul intended to increase investments in AI technology. The company is actively working to position AI agents at the core of its product offerings and internal processes. This move mirrors a broader trend of AI-related job reductions among major U.S. corporations, particularly within the technology sector. Overall, the layoffs and employee transfers will affect about 20% of Meta's workforce. While some transfers have already occurred, others will be communicated to employees on Wednesday. In light of these changes, North American employees have been instructed to work from home on the day of the layoffs.

In conjunction with these layoffs, Meta has also eliminated an additional 6,000 open positions as part of its restructuring efforts. As of the end of March, the company reported a total headcount of 77,986 employees.

Employee Transfers to AI Units

The new initiatives to which employees are being transferred include the Applied AI Engineering (AAI) team and the Agent Transformation Accelerator (ATA) XFN team. These groups were previously highlighted by Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth as part of Meta's “AI for Work” strategy. The primary objective of these teams is to develop AI agents capable of autonomously performing tasks that are currently executed by human employees.

Another area for employee transfers is Central Analytics, which aims to assess productivity and analytics related to the development of these AI agents. Gale mentioned that further details regarding a new initiative called Enterprise Solutions would be provided soon. However, the announcement of these changes has sparked dissent among Meta employees, who have expressed their concerns through protests and internal communications.

More than 1,000 employees have signed a petition opposing the use of mouse-tracking software intended for training Meta’s AI models to mimic human-computer interactions. Employees have raised privacy concerns regarding this technology and criticized the company's leadership for their lack of transparency about the layoff plans, which were not addressed until more than a month after initial reports surfaced.

During this waiting period, employees resorted to creative means of communication, such as posting images of elephants on internal platforms, symbolizing the unaddressed issue of layoffs, referred to as the “elephant in the room.” This grassroots response highlights the growing unrest among staff regarding the direction of the company and its handling of sensitive issues.

As Meta navigates these significant changes, the reactions from its workforce underscore the challenges that accompany such large-scale restructuring efforts, particularly in a company heavily invested in emerging technologies like AI. The balance between innovation and employee welfare remains a critical consideration as the organization moves forward with its ambitious plans.