Meta Executive Addresses Employee Concerns, Doesn't Rule Out Further Layoffs
According to multiple informed employees, Meta's Chief People Officer Janelle Gale recently stated in an internal meeting that the company cannot promise there won't be new rounds of layoffs beyond the announced plan. Meta has already announced plans to cut approximately 10% of its global workforce next month.
Gale said that the question of "whether there will be more layoffs" is always raised, and she "would love to say there won't be," but cannot make a commitment the company cannot fulfill. She emphasized that while the company's business remains stable, priorities may shift at any time, and industry competition remains fierce, so the company will continue to "manage costs responsibly." In this context, Meta will continue to adjust team structures as needed and try to "redeploy talent" through internal mobility. Gale also mentioned that some departments will be more affected by this round of layoffs, but did not elaborate on which business lines.
She specifically mentioned that Meta is increasing investment in the "Applied AI organization," indicating that while reducing labor costs, the company will still allocate resources to strategic priority areas. Company management also stated at the meeting that employees' "token usage" of AI internally will not be considered a factor in layoffs.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also responded to the layoffs at this internal meeting, saying that AI automation is not the main driver of the layoffs. He stated that AI has indeed significantly improved the efficiency of small teams, but the layoffs are more related to the company's overall strategy and resource allocation.
Regarding concerns about employee monitoring, Zuckerberg also said at the meeting that Meta had previously announced that it would optimize AI models by recording employee keystrokes and mouse movements. He emphasized that the reality is not that humans are monitoring employees' specific operations in real-time, and this data will be abstracted and used to improve AI systems, rather than directly used to supervise individual work performance.
Meta's head of AI, Alexandr Wang, also made a brief appearance at the meeting and enthusiastically praised the company's latest progress in AI, especially the recently released Spark model, during the Q&A session. A photo seen by Business Insider shows him attending the meeting in a casual camouflage T-shirt printed with multiple deer patterns.
When asked about the impact of the large-scale layoffs on employee morale, Gale admitted that this round of layoffs has indeed had an impact on morale within Meta, and the company is working hard to make "the best possible humane arrangements in difficult circumstances." She mentioned that Meta has extended the duration of COBRA health insurance subsidies to 18 months, three times the original amount, to alleviate the pressure on laid-off employees.
There have been previous signs that Meta's personnel adjustments this year may not be limited to one round. Reuters reported in March that Meta plans to cut approximately 20% of its overall workforce throughout the year. According to data disclosed by Meta, the company currently has more than 77,000 employees. However, Meta CFO Susan Li stated on a first-quarter earnings conference call this Wednesday that she "doesn't really know" what the company's ideal headcount should be.
At the same time, Meta is significantly increasing its infrastructure investment, especially spending related to AI. The company stated in its latest earnings report that infrastructure spending will double to between $125 billion and $145 billion this year, mainly for AI computing power and data center construction. This pace of tightening labor costs while increasing AI and infrastructure investment has also drawn more attention to whether there will be additional layoffs in the future.