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Mark Zuckerberg-owned Meta is planning a fresh round of layoffs, leaving employees anxious and stocking up on snacks. The company might reportedly slash 8,000 jobs, which makes up to 10% of its global workforce. The development comes after Meta’s Chief People Officer, Janelle Gale, sent an internal memo confirming the company’s reorganisation intentions.

Meta Atmosphere of Anger and Frustration

The unease has reportedly been building for weeks. While Meta has framed the cuts as part of an efficiency drive and a way to offset huge AI investments, layoffs are only one part of the problem. On social media, a Meta employee said the atmosphere in the tech office was almost like “doomsday”.

What workers perceive as a particularly depressing environment at Meta has also been worsened by growing salary disparities among employees, legal setbacks for the company, and required role adjustments for hundreds of top engineers.

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during my last year at meta there were probably 4-5 layoffs, but this one on 5/20 is huuuge

my friends still there are either just waiting hoping to get laid off or extremely anxious because the job is their lifeline

i remember the very first big layoff the night before was… https://t.co/3fhVNzQjGn

— adel 🌟 (@adelwu_) May 16, 2026

“I don’t know anyone having a good time. The vibe is a bit ‘over it’- lack of connection to the mission, upcoming layoffs, American employees being used to train the AI models that will replace them”, said an employee while speaking to WIRED.

Strategy Behind the Cut

According to CEO Mark Zuckerberg, the restructuring is a proactive transition to build smaller, more agile teams powered by artificial intelligence. While the company recently reported record-breaking quarterly profits of $26.8 billion, it is offsetting staggering AI infrastructure capital expenditures projected to reach between $125 billion and $145 billion this year. Leadership noted that AI tools now allow tiny teams or individual engineers to build what previously required dozens of workers, shifting Meta’s definition of its ideal workforce size.

Support for the Laid-Off

As per the internal memo of Janelle Gale, Meta would support those laid off with a 16 week base pay plus two weeks for every year of employment. Also included would be a COBRA health coverage for the US employees and their families for a time period of 18 months.

As a response to this Layoff frenzy, employees have started to hoard free snacks, drinks, and chargers to compensate for their future job loss.