The tech layoffs aren't slowing down. They're rebranding.
Meta cut about 8,000 jobs on Wednesday - roughly 10% of its workforce - and in the same week, the company is moving about 7,000 employees into new AI-focused roles.
The message from CEO Mark Zuckerberg in his internal memo was blunt: "success isn't a given."
Meta first signaled the cuts back in April, saying it would lay off thousands and also walk away from 6,000 open job postings - with the savings funneled into more AI investment.
The teams Meta is protecting tell the story. AI infrastructure, foundation models, and AI monetization are reportedly safe, while almost everything else is up for grabs.
"AI is the most consequential technology of our lifetimes," Zuckerberg wrote in the memo, which was first reported by The New York Times. "The companies that lead the way will define the next generation."
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Meta has done multiple layoff rounds this year, starting with about 1,000 cuts from Reality Labs in January and another few hundred in March - and sources told CNBC two more rounds could land in August and the fall.
That stress is showing up in employee data, with Meta's overall rating from staffers on the Blind professional network falling 25% from a Q2 2024 peak and its culture rating down 39%.
Zuckerberg said in his memo executives "do not expect other companywide layoffs this year" and admitted the company hasn't been as clear in its communication as it should be.
Meta isn't alone. Cisco said last week it will cut about 4,000 jobs, with CEO Chuck Robbins saying the AI-era winners will be companies with "focus, urgency, and the discipline to continuously shift investment toward the areas where demand and long-term value creation are strongest."
Microsoft is taking a softer route - in April it offered voluntary buyouts for the first time in its history, with about 7% of U.S.-based workers eligible.
Meanwhile, companies like Uber are burning through their AI budgets on tools their engineers can't stop using - which is the spending pile the layoffs are paying for.
Big Tech keeps trimming the workforce that built the last era to fund the workforce that'll build the next one.
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