Meta cuts 8,000 jobs and cancels 6,000 open roles as $135B AI spending reshapes the company from the inside

Meta is laying off approximately 8,000 employees (10% of its workforce) starting May 20, while also cancelling 6,000 open roles, with additional cuts planned for H2 2026. The restructuring is structural rather than performance-based, reorganizing teams into AI-focused 'pods' as Meta redirects spending toward $115–135 billion in AI infrastructure this year. The cuts are the third wave of 2026 layoffs, bringing the cumulative total since 2022 to over 33,000 jobs. Simultaneously, top executives stand to receive up to $921 million each in stock options tied to a $9 trillion market cap target by 2031. Meta is also deploying a 'Model Capability Initiative' that captures employee keystrokes and mouse movements to train AI agents, with no opt-out option. The broader tech sector has seen 73,000+ job cuts in the first four months of 2026, with Microsoft, Oracle, and Atlassian all citing AI restructuring as the driver.