Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is admitting to missteps in a newly leaked memo, following the company's significant workforce changes over the past year as it pours billions of dollars into developing artificial intelligence infrastructure.
These changes include Meta's decision last year to axe roughly 3,600 jobs after Zuckerberg warned employees in a memo that he had decided to "raise the bar on performance."
Meta continued to cut jobs this year as it doubled down on its artificial intelligence investments. In January, the company laid off about 1,000 employees in its Reality Labs division after the department incurred $73 billion in losses since 2021.
By March, it had pink-slipped several hundred employees across multiple departments, including sales, recruiting, global operations, Facebook, and again, Reality Labs. The following month, it even began tracking employees' computer activity to help build its AI agents, according to a Reuters report.
Most recently, in May, Meta laid off 8,000 employees, which is 10% of its workforce, and pulled the plug on 6,000 open job positions to offset its massive AI investments. Additionally, over 7,000 employees were internally reassigned to roles that focus on AI initiatives.