Meta began slashing thousands of jobs Wednesday morning amid the company’s push to transform into an artificial intelligence-first company. 

Employees at Facebook and Instagram’s parent company were told last month that roughly 8,000 employees would lose their jobs in May amid a larger AI restructuring. This week, an additional 7,000 workers learned they’d be reassigned to new AI-focused roles. 

Workers in Singapore began receiving emails about layoffs around 4 a.m. local time, with North American Meta employees being told to work remotely as job-cut emails went out. 

It was not immediately clear Wednesday how Austin-based Meta employees, who work in the company’s downtown high-rise offices, were impacted by the cuts. Meta has not responded to requests for comment.

The cuts amount to about 10% of the company’s workforce. The company employed about 78,000 people at the end of last year, including about 2,000 in the greater Austin area, according to Opportunity Austin’s most recent job totals. 

In last month’s email, the company said it also planned to close about 6,000 additional open roles to offset other spending the company is currently making. 

Meta Platforms Inc. has spent more than $70 billion on AI, including data centers and chips, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg telling investors the company plans to spend between $115 billion and $135 billion on AI this year. 

Zuckerberg has said in the past he believes much of the work being done in the technology industry today will soon be overtaken by AI. Like many tech executives, he has spearheaded massive AI spending efforts. Meta, while making significant progress in recent years, has lagged behind OpenAI and Google in developing foundational models. 

But the social media company isn’t the only one cutting jobs to support AI efforts. 

Last week, LinkedIn cut about 5% of its workforce, including about 600 in California. Networking giant Cisco said it planned to eliminate 4,000 workers last week in an AI-driven move. Microsoft, Block and Coinbase have announced layoffs or buyouts to support massive AI spending. It is still unclear how Austin-based employees for those companies were impacted.

Round Rock’s Dell Technologies has quietly trimmed much of its global workforce over the past several years, including a reduction of about 11,000 roles in 2025.