Meta’s chief people officer Janelle Gale has now informed the employees that the company cannot rule out further layoffs, even after announcing the plans to cut around 10% of its workforce which is 8,000 employees this month. According to a report by Business Insider, speaking during an internal meeting, Gale acknowledged the staff concerns following the May 20 announcement of 8000 job cuts. When asked directly if more layoffs were coming, Gale said: “I’d love to say that there are no more layoffs, but I can’t say something we can’t deliver. While the business is strong, priorities change, competition is fierce, and we will continue to manage our costs responsibly.”Gale also added that Meta would “continue to evolve teams as needed” and attempt to redeploy talent where possible, pointing to investments in the company’s Applied AI organization. Gale further noted that some of the departments would be affected more as compared to others but she did not specify which ones.
Meta CEO Zuckerberg: AI is not driving layoffs
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also addressed the employees and said that AI automation is not the main reason behind the upcoming layoffs. However, he does believe that AI has made small teams more efficient. He also explained Meta’s controversial plan to monitor employee keystrokes and mouse movements, clarifying that humans are not watching staff activity directly and that the data is abstracted to improve the AI models.
Meta HR head Janelle Gale admits that layoffs have hurt morale
Gale admitted that layoffs have hurt morale but said Meta is trying to make the process “the best version possible.” She highlighted that the company has tripled COBRA healthcare coverage to 18 months for affected employees.Meta CFO Susan Li recently said she “doesn’t really know” the ideal size of the company’s workforce, which currently exceeds 77,000 employees. Meanwhile, Meta AI Chief Alexandr Wang appeared at the meeting to showcase the company’s latest AI model, Spark, underscoring the firm’s heavy investment in artificial intelligence.Meta has announced that its infrastructure spending will double this year to between $125 billion and $145 billion, largely to support AI initiatives.
