Meta's Third Round of Layoffs Affects 8,000 Employees Amid AI Investment

PANews posted on X (formerly Twitter). Meta has initiated its third round of layoffs in 2026, impacting 8,000 employees, primarily engineers and product managers. The internal code name for this round is "Pralaydin" (Day of Disaster). A Singapore-based employee, @anishmoonka, confirmed the layoffs, stating that notifications were sent at 4 a.m. local time, and employees' access to company systems was immediately revoked upon receiving the email. This follows Meta's recent restructuring, where 7,000 employees were reassigned to a newly formed AI team. The company plans another round of layoffs within the year, potentially bringing the total number of departures to 22,000, approximately one-fifth of its workforce. According to Evercore analysts, these layoffs could save Meta around $3 billion annually. Concurrently, Meta's budget for AI infrastructure this year is estimated to be between $125 billion and $145 billion.