Zuckerberg blames Meta layoffs on AI costs, says compute and infrastructure and people oriented things are biggest financial drain right now

Date:
Fri, 01 May 2026 13:05:00 +0000

Description:
Meta's capex rises as the company spends big on AI data centers, and it's having to reduce headcount to become more agile.

FULL STORY ======================================================================Copy link Facebook X Whatsapp Reddit Pinterest Flipboard Threads Email Share this article 0 Join the conversation Follow us Add us as a preferred source on Google Newsletter Subscribe to our newsletter Around 8,000 of Meta's nearly 80,000 workers are set to lose their jobs this month Company capex is
expected to rise $10bn to $145bn Revenue is up 33%, but shares are down 9% Meta is reportedly planning to cut around 8,000 jobs, or 10% of its current headcount, as soon as this month amid ongoing cost-cutting measures, with further layoffs not ruled out either.

Chief People Officer Janelle Gale explained the drive for agility amid shifting priorities and competition from rival companies, but with future layoffs potentially on the cards, worker morale is believed to be under huge pressure with employees demanding more transparency. The company has already made around 1,700 workers redundant in 2026 (via layoffs.fyi ), and at least 4,300 in 2025. Article continues below You may like Meta could be about to
cut thousands more jobs Meta has a new boss to help 'encourage' its workers
to use more AI Meta is turning employee behavior into AI training data Meta continues to explore job cuts Speaking about the job cuts, CEO Mark
Zuckerberg implied they were largely driven by growing AI infrastructure
spend across data centers and compute. Company capex continues to rise, estimated to be as high as $145 billion, which has ultimately forced savings elsewhere. This number is up by a not-so-insignificant $10 billion from previous projections (via Forbes ).

Zuckerberg emphasized that AI itself is not replacing jobs, however the tech can still be attributed to job losses indirectly with Meta focusing on big AI spends across infrastructure. He has already previously acknowledged that AI does allow leaner teams to work more efficiently, though, so it's not as if
AI isn't responsible for some direct job losses.

Even though the companies has fired thousands of workers in recent years,
it's also re-hired across other areas of the business, with headcount up 1% year-over-year.

However, despite a "milestone quarter," with a 33% rise in revenue to $56.31 billion, company shares are down about 9% following the company's latest earnings post, with investors more likely worried about the major capex spend than labor shifts. Are you a pro? Subscribe to our newsletter Sign up to the TechRadar Pro newsletter to get all the top news, opinion, features and guidance your business needs to succeed! Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners
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Link to news story: https://www.techradar.com/pro/zuckerberg-blames-meta-layoffs-on-ai-costs-says- compute-and-infrastructure-and-people-oriented-things-are-biggest-financial-dr ain-right-now


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