Meta to Begin Layoffs Next Week, Prioritizing AI Talent Hiring

News Desk

Islamabad: Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, is set to begin its anticipated company-wide layoffs next week while expediting the hiring of machine learning engineers, according to internal memos reviewed by Reuters.

Layoff notices will start going out at 5 am local time on Monday in most countries, including the United States. However, employees in Germany, France, Italy, and the Netherlands will be exempt due to local labor regulations.

In over a dozen other countries across Europe, Asia, and Africa, affected employees will receive notifications between February 11 and February 18, the memo stated.

Janelle Gale, Meta’s Head of People, referred to the layoffs as “performance terminations” in the memo, which was first reported by The Information. The company had previously announced plans to cut around 5% of its lowest-performing employees while backfilling some positions.

Unlike previous mass layoffs, Meta will keep its offices open on Monday and will not release further details on the decisions, Gale noted.

Meanwhile, a separate memo from Peng Fan, Meta’s VP of Engineering for Monetization, urged employees to support an expedited hiring process for machine learning engineers and other “business-critical” roles. The hiring push will take place between February 11 and March 13.

“Thank you for your continued support in helping us achieve our accelerated hiring goals and better align with our company’s priorities for 2025,” Fan wrote.

A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the memos.