It began with a simple instruction: work from home today.
Employees across regions, including the US and Britain, were told not to come to the office. There were no townhalls, no chatter on office floors, and no visible signs of panic.
Then the emails started arriving.
Meta Platforms began a fresh round of layoffs that will affect nearly 8,000 employees — close to 10 per cent of its workforce. The first reports came from its Singapore hub, where affected employees reportedly received emails at 4 am local time (1:30 am IST), according to Bloomberg. Notifications were sent in phases across time zones.
For many employees, the sequence stood out: WFH first, layoffs next.
AI Reset Behind Layoffs
Meta had around 78,000 employees before the restructuring exercise. Now, thousands are being laid off, while thousands more are being reassigned.
In an internal memo, Chief People Officer Janelle Gale said about 7,000 employees would move into new AI-native teams, while nearly 6,000 open positions had been eliminated. The company is also reducing managerial layers to create flatter structures and smaller, faster-moving teams.
Engineering and product divisions are expected to be hit the hardest, with reports suggesting more cuts could follow later this year.
At the centre of the overhaul is Mark Zuckerberg's aggressive AI push. Meta plans to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion this year, largely on artificial intelligence infrastructure and development.
The layoffs had been internally anticipated after details leaked last month, leading to a sharp dip in morale. Reports claimed some employees began stocking up on office snacks and spare laptop chargers ahead of the official announcement.
At the same time, controversy erupted over reports that Meta was testing an internal monitoring tool that tracked mouse movements and keystrokes to help train AI systems. More than 1,000 employees reportedly signed a petition opposing the move.
Many employees felt the WFH directive helped the company avoid scenes of unrest inside offices.
A Wider Tech Industry Pattern
The trend extends beyond Meta.
Cisco Systems reportedly cut 4,000 jobs last week, while companies including Microsoft, Amazon, Disney, and ASML have also announced layoffs or voluntary exits.
In April, Oracle reportedly laid off between 20,000 and 30,000 employees through early-morning emails sent across multiple geographies.
'A Structural Shift, Not A Temporary Slowdown'
According to Dipal Dutta, CEO of RedoQ, the ongoing workforce cuts signal a deeper transformation in the tech industry rather than a short-term economic correction.
Dutta said the rise of generative AI and autonomous systems has reduced the need for routine software engineering, customer operations, and repetitive data-management roles.
"The traditional tech playbook based on scaling headcount to drive growth has collapsed," he said.
He argued that the industry now values professionals who can design and manage AI-era systems instead of simply executing isolated technical tasks.
"The corporate premium has shifted away from execution speed and toward high-level architectural thinking," Dutta said, adding that future resilience will depend on the ability to operate at the intersection of AI systems and enterprise strategy.
