Meta is set to announce on May 20, 2026 a strategic restructuring that involves laying off approximately 8,000 employees, representing 10% of its global workforce, while simultaneously reassigning around 7,000 staff to newly formed AI-focused teams. According to NBC News, the process also involves eliminating 6,000 open job positions and adopting a flatter management structure. The notifications will be dispatched in three waves starting from Singapore at 4:00 AM local time. The company confirmed earlier internal memos from April first disclosed these plans, intended to “offset other investments” and enhance operational efficiency.
Meanwhile, Meta announced raising its 2026 capital expenditure guidance to between 125 billion and 145 billion, up from the previous 115 billion to 135 billion, to accelerate data center and AI infrastructure development. This move has triggered investor skepticism. In late April, JPMorgan Chase downgraded Meta’s stock from “overweight” to “neutral,” trimming its target price from 825 to 725, citing “increased infrastructure spending and limited visibility into the AI product pipeline.” Bank of America analysts further noted that the AI investment cycle is “proving larger than expected, with returns less clear compared to cloud providers.”
Despite the stock having declined nearly 9% year-to-date, in a sign of internal unrest, over 1,000 employees have signed a petition protesting the installation of mouse-tracking software on work devices for AI model training.