March 17, 2026 | 09:25 pm
TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram, is reportedly planning to slash its workforce by as much as 20 percent in an upcoming wave of layoffs. The tech giant's global headcount had been expected to reach nearly 79,000 employees by the close of 2025.
According to several media reports, Meta appears to be bracing for a large-scale reduction. "Meta's top executives have told other senior leaders to start planning how to pare back," reported Engadget on Saturday, March 14, 2026.
This move indicates that internal preparations are already underway, even though specific dates and final figures remain unconfirmed.
In its most recent financial disclosure, Meta recorded 78,865 employees as of December 31, 2025, a period during which quarterly revenue hit nearly $60 billion and annual earnings surpassed $200 billion.
A Meta spokesperson characterized the recent claims as a "speculative reporting about theoretical approaches," emphasizing that any plans are preliminary and have not been finalized.
Meta has previously conducted major layoffs. Earlier this year, the company cut approximately 1,000 positions within its Reality Labs division, which oversees virtual reality and the metaverse. Furthermore, at the beginning of last year, the social media titan shed about five percent of its total workforce.
Despite these cuts, Meta continues to funnel significant capital into the acquisition of AI startups. Recent deals include the purchase of Moltbook, a social network designed for AI agents, and Manus, a startup specializing in AI agents built to automate complex tasks.
Read: ByteDance Explains Delay in Global Launch of Seedance 2.0
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