Meta will start giving termination letters to 7,800 employees in 16 days as layoff date nears

Meta employees are likely facing an anxious wait as the company prepares to issue layoff notices to around 7,800 workers on May 20, which is just about 16 days away. The cuts come as Meta moves focus toward AI spending and cost control.

In Short

• Meta to cut around 10 per cent workforce, nearly 7,800 jobs
• The termination emails will be sent on May 20, which is 16 days away
• The company says more layoffs cannot be ruled out

Meta employees are likely counting down to May 20, the date when thousands of workers are expected to learn whether they still have a job. With just 16 days left, uncertainty is spreading across the company after internal messages confirmed that around 10 per cent of the workforce will be cut. For a company with more than 77,000 employees, that translates to nearly 7,800 people facing layoffs. The upcoming job cuts come at a time when Meta says business remains strong, but spending priorities are changing fast. The company is pouring billions into artificial intelligence and infrastructure, while also trying to reduce costs and streamline teams. For employees, however, the focus is less about strategy and more about survival.

Meta to hand over termination letters to employees in 2 weeks

In an internal memo shared with staff and obtained by Business Insider, Meta said affected employees would receive termination notices by email on May 20, sent to both work and personal accounts. Workers were asked to ensure their personal email details were updated in the company system.

The memo acknowledged the anxiety caused by the delay between announcement and action. "I know this leaves everyone with nearly a month of ambiguity which is incredibly unsettling," the company had said in April.

Meta also confirmed that around 6,000 open roles will be closed as part of the restructuring. That means the cuts are not only affecting current workers but also future hiring plans.

The company said it would offer severance support. In the US, impacted staff are set to receive 16 weeks of base pay, plus two additional weeks for every year worked. Health coverage for employees and families will also be extended for 18 months. Similar packages are expected in other countries, adjusted according to local laws and processes.

Meta says more cuts cannot be ruled out

What has added to employee nervousness is that Meta executives reportedly did not guarantee that May’s layoffs would be the last round.

During an internal meeting, Chief People Officer Janelle Gale reportedly told staff, “Will there be more layoffs? The question always comes up. I'd love to say that there are no more layoffs, but I can't say something we can't deliver.”

She added that while the business remains healthy, competition is intense and the company will continue to manage spending carefully. According to reports, Gale said Meta would keep evolving teams where needed and try to redeploy workers into priority areas such as Applied AI.

That message may be practical from a management point of view, but for employees it signals that uncertainty may continue even after May 20.

Zuckerberg says AI is not replacing staff

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also reportedly addressed employees during the internal meeting and said the layoffs were not being driven directly by AI replacing workers.

He said AI tools have made smaller teams more efficient, but automation itself was not the main reason behind the job cuts. Still, many workers are likely to see a clear link between Meta’s workforce reductions and its aggressive AI spending plans.

Meta recently said infrastructure spending this year could rise to between $125 billion and $145 billion, largely because of AI investments. That sharp increase shows where the company’s priorities now lie.

- Ends