Mark Zuckerberg held a company hall on April 30 to speak directly to Meta employees about the layoffs. It was the first time he spoke to employees about the cuts since Reuters first reported on the plan in March.
What he said did not strengthen them. And what he didn’t say might worry them even more.
What Zuckerberg told the Meta staff about layoffs
Zuckerberg was specific about why the layoffs happened. “We actually have two major cost centers in the company: computing infrastructure and people-centric things,” he said in the session.
“If we invest a lot in one area to serve our community, that means we have less money to allocate to another. So that means we need to downsize the company a bit.”
More layoffs:
As for whether further cuts will be made, he declined to give a guarantee. “I wish I could tell you that I have a crystal ball plan for, like, three years into the future of how all this stuff is going to play out,” he said. “I don’t want to. I don’t think you’re doing anything.”
He also talked about a concern circulating within: that AI tools are making human roles redundant. “Getting everyone internally to use AI tools and get work done effectively is not what causes layoffs,” he said.
But he added: “We’ll see how all these things go,” Reuters noted.
What Meta’s CFO has to say about demographics
CFO Susan Li added details that could further disrupt employees. Meta doesn’t yet know what its “optimal” long-term size will be, given the pace of AI development, he said, according to Benzinga.
Li acknowledged that lower workers’ compensation costs are expected following the layoffs. But those savings will be offset this year by restructuring costs tied to the cuts themselves. The total financial benefit will come later, Benzinga noted.
A measure of layoffs is already happening in Meta
The May 20 round alone is huge. Meta plans to cut about 8,000 jobs, representing about 10% of its 78,865 global workforce, according to TNW. The company is also eliminating about 6,000 open roles before they are filled.
But May 20 is not the beginning of this process. In January, Meta cut about 1,000 to 1,500 Reality Labs employees and closed several VR game studios, TNW noted. In March, it cut another 700 workers in at least five divisions. Zuckerberg’s total cuts through 2022 now stand at about 25,000.
Touch teams cut across Reality Labs, the Facebook social division, recruiting, sales, and global operations. The filing of the California WARN Act guarantees 124 positions at Meta’s Burlingame office as of May 22 and 74 at its Sunnyvale location as of May 29, KRON4 reported.
Additional configurations planned for the second half of 2026 have not been finalized on time or scale, according to Reuters.
Why Meta is cutting jobs while generating record profits
This is where the backlash of workers is understandable. Meta is not a company in trouble. Revenue by 2025 reached $201 billion, up 22% year over year. Q1 2026 revenue came in at $56.31 billion, beating Wall Street expectations of $55.45 billion. Free cash flow for 2025 was $43.6 billion, according to TNW.
The cuts are driven by the other side of the balance sheet. Meta raised its 2026 capital spending forecast to $125 billion to $145 billion, from $115 billion to $135 billion. That spending will go toward AI infrastructure, model development, and the creation of Meta’s Superintelligence Labs under Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang, Benzinga confirmed.
Bank of America projects that the restructuring will generate $7 billion to $8 billion in annual savings, notes TNW. The question workers are asking is not whether the math works. That a company generating $201 billion in annual revenue needs to lay off thousands of people to fund a $125 billion AI bet.
Key statistics from Meta’s layoff announcement and city hall:
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Staff will be reduced from May 20: About 8,000, or 10% of the workforce
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Open roles are deleted: About 6,000
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Meta’s complete cuts from 2022: About 25,000
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More cuts scheduled for H2 2026, time not finalized
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Meta Revenue 2025: $201 billion, up 22% year over year
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Meta 2026 capex guidance: $125 billion to $145 billion
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Annualized savings expected from the redesign: $7 billion to $8 billion, Bank of America estimated
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META share price on April 30 close: $611.91, down 8.55%
Sources: TNW, Reuters, Benzinga
How Meta employees respond internally
The reaction within Meta was not quiet. Employees openly criticized Zuckerberg and other company leaders on Meta’s internal messaging forum about the changes, based on copies of comments seen by Reuters.
The frustration is understandable. Meta grew its workforce by 6% last year, as Zuckerberg publicly stated that AI would allow the company to do more with fewer people, according to TNW.
Many employees join or stay based on signs that the company is growing. The pivot of large-scale cuts sounds like a slogan. And the suggestion that more may follow gives them little certainty about their future.
There’s also context for how these cuts came alongside a new employee monitoring initiative to track mouse movements, clicks, and keystrokes. The combination of surveillance and layoffs added to internal concerns, Reuters noted.
What is meant by Meta’s headcount going forward
For workers, the April 30 town hall offered credibility but not comfort. Zuckerberg didn’t pretend the job cuts in May were the end. He said he doesn’t have a crystal ball. That at least is clear. But for someone who wonders if their role is secure, the lack of transparency is your own form of stress.
For investors, the picture is different. An annual savings of $7 billion to $8 billion is reasonable. A lean company that invests heavily in AI may emerge with strong margins and a highly competitive product stack. The stock was down about 9% on April 30, but that reflected missed earnings and increased capex along with layoffs.
Both groups face similar uncertainties that Zuckerberg acknowledged. Meta is making a big, expensive bet on AI. At the moment he does not know how many people have to bet. And no decision is made.
Related: Mark Zuckerberg’s new AI bet will help avoid another metaverse
This story was originally published by TheStreet on May 2, 2026, where it appeared first in the Technology category. Add TheStreet as a favorite source by clicking here.
