Meta Lays Off 700 Employees, While Rewarding Top Executives

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Meta Lays Off 700 Employees, While Rewarding Top Executives

The jobs cuts and a new stock program for executives come as Meta continues to shift its focus to artificial intelligence.

The layoffs are a fraction of the tech giant’s 78,000 employees, but are part of a shift toward A.I.

Credit...

Jason Henry for The New York Times

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Meta Lays Off 700 Employees, While Rewarding Top Executives

The jobs cuts and a new stock program for executives come as Meta continues to shift its focus to artificial intelligence.

The layoffs are a fraction of the tech giant’s 78,000 employees, but are part of a shift toward A.I.

Credit...

Jason Henry for The New York Times

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By

Eli Tan

Reporting from San Francisco

March 25, 2026

Meta on Wednesday laid off around 700 employees, a person with knowledge of the company said, the latest downsizing as the Silicon Valley giant shifts its priorities toward artificial intelligence.

Less than 24 hours earlier, the company unveiled a new stock program for six top executives that could increase compensation for some of them by as much as $921 million each over the next five years. Meta said the move was a way to retain talent in the A.I. era and push it toward ambitious growth.

The dichotomy — cutting some employees while rewarding high-ranking executives — underlines how much A.I. has changed the tech industry. In recent years, Meta has been trying to move beyond its social media and metaverse businesses. Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s chief executive, has declared that he is striving to create “superintelligence,” or a godlike A.I. that can act as the ultimate personal companion.

Last year, Mr. Zuckerberg shelled out billions of dollars to hire a team of A.I. specialists. At the same time, the company planned to cut

10 percent to 15 percent

of Reality Labs, its division making virtual reality and metaverse products.

The latest layoffs compounded a tough day for Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. A Los Angeles jury on Wednesday

found the company liable

for harming a young user with addictive design features on Instagram in a bellwether case that could open social media companies to more lawsuits over users’ well-being.

While the verdict was coming in, Meta was also announcing the 700 layoffs in the Reality Labs unit, as well as some in recruiting, sales and Facebook, a person with knowledge of the matter said. The layoffs were a fraction of the tech giant’s 78,000 employees, but signal Meta’s priorities.

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