Mark Zuckerbergs Meta kicks off major bloodbath with 8,000 layoffs as AI roils tech giant
Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta on Wednesday kicked off a major bloodbath with 8,000 layoffs — among the largest in the social media giant’s history — as a disruptive shift toward artificial intelligence continues to roil the tech giant. Employees were told in April that a 10% reduction of the workforce was coming on May 20, and earlier this week, they were reportedly informed that another 7,000 staffers would be reassigned to AI-focused positions.Meta’s offices are set to be mostly deserted Wednesday after human resources chief Janelle Gale told North American employees to work from home in an email this week, according to an internal document earlier reported by Reuters.The companywide purge is taking place in three massive waves, as employees across the world are notified in emails at 4 a.m.local time in their respective regions.
Singapore staffers were the first to receive the doomsday emails.Meta did not immediately respond to The Post’s request for comment.Staffers at the social media giant — which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — have been disgruntled ahead of the layoffs.Some workers hung flyers on the office walls with a petition to stop Meta’s new program to track their data for AI training, while others swiped free snacks and laptop chargers from the building on Monday in case they lost their jobs by the end of the week, the New York Times reported.In the New York office, hundreds of employees planned to gather for drinks on Tuesday ahead of the layoffs, saying the event was meant to “commiserate or celebrate, pick your poison,” according to a copy of the invitation seen by the outlet.One Meta employee told the San Francisco Standard ahead of the layoffs that the worker’s office has been in “chaos” as employees fear they’ll be axed.“I am generally dissatisfied with leadership and angry,” the anonymous employee said.“This is as anxious and stressed as I have ever been at a job.”Meta previously said laid-off workers wo...