Thekabarnews.com—Meta Platforms began cutting about 8,000 jobs worldwide in a broad corporate overhaul. This overhaul will prioritize artificial intelligence development and operational efficiency.

The latest round of layoffs began in Singapore early Wednesday morning, May 20. Workers received termination emails around 4:00 a.m. local time, as Business Times reported.

The company also expects employees in the UK, US, and other countries to receive notifications. These notifications will arrive within the timeframe of their local time zones.

The company wants to streamline operations and reallocate more resources to the development of AI products. This initiative includes generative AI systems and intelligent digital agents, the report added.

That would affect about 10 percent of Meta’s total workforce. Recently, workers girded for major organizational changes, permeating the company’s internal environment with uncertainty.

In April, Meta informed employees that layoffs would commence on May 20. The company also said earlier this week it would move roughly 7,000 other employees into newly formed AI-focused divisions.

Reports indicate these teams will focus on artificial intelligence infrastructure and products leveraging AI. Additionally, they will work on advanced automation systems across the Meta ecosystem.

The tech giant, owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, had fewer than 80,000 employees at the end of March. This was before the restructuring and layoffs began.

The latest round of layoffs will hit engineering and product development teams the hardest, as the layoffs were imminent. Sources familiar with the company’s plans said this.

Meta may continue cutting jobs through the end of the year as it reshapes operations around its AI priorities.

Janelle Gale, Meta’s Head of Human Resources, confirmed in an internal memo obtained by Bloomberg News that the company is looking to create a flatter organizational structure. This structure will have smaller, faster-moving teams.

“We’ve gotten to the point now where many organizations can operate with flatter structures with small pod or cohort teams that can move faster and take on greater responsibility,” Gale wrote in the memo.

The new structure will increase productivity while making work more satisfying for employees, she added.

The reshuffle fits into a broader trend in the global tech industry. Big firms are shifting to investing in artificial intelligence and trimming costs in traditional operations.

With competition in generative AI heating up, technology firms are quickly reallocating talent and financial resources to machine learning, automation, and AI infrastructure.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said many times that artificial intelligence is one of the most important long-term priorities for the company.

Layoffs show how aggressively big tech firms are repositioning for the AI era. This happens even at the expense of major workforce disruption.

But the transformation has triggered anxiety and uncertainty among many employees. There are concerns about the future of work at one of the world’s biggest technology companies.

As Meta plunges deeper into artificial intelligence, the company looks ready to drastically reshape its workforce. This is to compete in the next generation of digital technology.

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