Meta to Cut Not Less Than 3,000 Jobs Worldwide Starting From Today, February 11, 2025, to Hire AI Talent or Machine Learning Engineers

Mark Zuckerberg-owned firm Meta to cut not less than 3,000 jobs worldwide starting from today, February 11, 2025, to hire AI talent or machine learning engineers

Social media giant Meta will begin laying off at least 3,000 employees worldwide on Sunday, February 11, 2025, in a bid to pivot towards generative AI and hire more AI talent, the Facebook and Instagram parent company said in its latest round of internal memos to employees on Friday, February 10.

The affected employees will receive severance packages, according to an email received from Meta. Earlier, Meta CEO had warned about the 5% layoffs from the workforce which will see around 3,600 workers being laid off. The layoffs will also impact lower-performing employees and will make way for qualified AI engineers, as the competition in the generative AI market heats up, with players like ChatGPT-owner OpenAI.

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The layoffs come as Meta is restructuring its workforce and ramping up its focus on artificial intelligence. According to the report, those being laid off in the U.S. will receive severance packages that include 16 weeks of salary, plus an additional two weeks for each year of service.

Meta's head of people, Janelle Gale, said that notices in the US, were expected to be sent by Monday at 5 am local time. Workers in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands will be exempt from the layoffs “due to local regulations", while employees in over a dozen other countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa will receive their notifications between February 11 and February 18, the memo mentioned.