(C): Unsplash
The giant headquarters of Meta at 1 Hacker Way in Menlo Park is no longer as lively as before. With WARN Act notices released on May 29, 2026, the news was formally shared that 2212 software engineers employed in the headquarters of Meta have been let go due to its global 10% downsizing plan affecting an estimated 8000 workers worldwide. For tech professionals in Silicon Valley and beyond, the only thing on everyone’s mind is this — are there more layoffs in the making?
The Menlo Park HQ suffered most of the damage according to three California WARN filings. Other cuts to jobs at Meta included 313 at its Sunnyvale headquarters and 74 at its Playa Vista facility in Los Angeles County. Some of the teams impacted by the cut include engineers on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, business-critical AI teams such as BizAI and Core Ads, and other key product teams.
Even three roles were cut from the “Data Centre & Pastry Culinary Team” — a point of sorts for Meta’s no corner is safe.
At the same time, Meta’s Reality Labs group in Burlingame remains shrunken. Meta has been losing billions of dollars each year on these virtual reality devices and hasn’t seen much commercial success, so in April the company announced it would be “right-sizing” the unit. The new batch of Meta software engineers is joining the exodus.
CEO Mark Zuckerberg has proudly admitted that AI is the reason behind these cuts. The Meta HQ job cuts were described as needed to reimagine the company for the “most consequential” technology race of the next 10 years in a memo to staff. His objective, to bring “superintelligence” to the masses, will involve focusing their resources, and that means letting go of some people.
Employees affected were not notified until May 20, and separations were to be made by July 22. The severance consists of 16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for each year of service, which, in the midst of corporate layoffs in 2026, is a relatively large severance package.
According to Zuckerberg’s email, the probability of conducting further company-wide personnel reductions in 2026 is quite low for him but does not provide any “definitive” guarantee. That caveat matters. It’s the third time this year that jobs have been slashed: more than 1,000 were eliminated in January, some 700 more in March, and now thousands more in May.
A trend that is worrying tech workers who are following the employment numbers at Meta. Given the restructuring and cost savings that AI enables, these kinds of layoffs in tech firms are starting to redefine what it means to have job security in 2026 in California.
Meta’s move is hardly an isolated one. There have been sweeping changes in the labor market in tech companies in Silicon Valley, with the emphasis placed on making investments in AI and not in employees.
For those working in the sector today, the harsh reality is that even the most talented engineers in some of the most profitable corporations cannot avoid layoffs made via algorithms.
“AI is going to be one of the most transformative technologies that we have seen in our lifetimes, so whoever takes the lead position on that technology will shape how generations to come are shaped,” said Mark Zuckerberg.
What about Meta’s hiring practices going forward? It is unclear whether these massive layoffs will turn into a point of no return, but the era of Big Tech hiring unbridled is over and AI is becoming intrinsically tied with jobs.
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