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Meta, Microsoft cuts, buyouts could trim 23,000 jobs

April 23, 2026

Kurt Wagner and Brody Ford

Bloomberg

Meta Platforms and Microsoft are planning cuts or announcing buyouts that could affect as many as 23,000 jobs, part of an effort to streamline operations and offset heavy spending on artificial intelligence.

Meta told personnel in an internal memo on Thursday that it planned to cut 10% of workers, or roughly 8,000 employees, starting on May 20. The social-media company also said it wouldn’t fill 6,000 open roles.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, employed more than 78,000 people at the end of 2025. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said he expects much of the work done in the technology industry to eventually be overtaken by AI powered systems, including coding assistants that help engineers write software.

Earlier in the day, Microsoft issued its own memo offering voluntary buyouts to thousands of its US employees. About 7% of the U.S. workforce will be eligible for the buyouts, according to a person familiar with the planning. The company has never previously done buyouts of this scale, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter.

Microsoft had 125,000 employees in the U.S. as of June 2025. That would make about 8,750 workers eligible for the program.

Big tech companies have been looking for ways to trim their expenses as they pour billions into data centers and other infrastructure to meet demand for AI services.

Microsoft is racing to construct data centers around the world and this month announced new AI investments in Japan and Australia. Meta, meanwhile, has projected record capital expenditures this year and has announced several multibillion-dollar deals with AI partners over the past few months. Both companies have instituted several rounds of layoffs in recent years.

Meta alluded to its AI spending in the memo, which was written by Janelle Gale, chief people officer. “We’re doing this as part of our continued effort to run the company more efficiently and to allow us to offset the other investments we’re making,” she wrote in the note, which was reviewed by Bloomberg.

Meta employees have spent much of the year fretting about job cuts, which already hit the Reality Labs division and other teams. Gale said that the company was announcing the layoffs early since details of the plan had already leaked. Reuters first reported on Meta’s planned workforce reductions earlier this month.

“I know this is unwelcome news and confirming this puts everyone in an uneasy state, but we feel this is the best path forward, given the circumstances,” Gale wrote.

Microsoft’s buyout program is being offered to workers whose years of service plus their age totals 70 or more, excluding some senior roles or those on sales incentive plans, according to the memo from Chief People Officer Amy Coleman.

“I’ve never seen the company move with this level of urgency and pace, and I see the intensity and agility you bring every day,” Coleman wrote in the memo, which was reviewed by Bloomberg. “To sustain this pace, we have to stay focused on doing great work, trusting and empowering our managers and simplifying to support everyone.”

Both companies are scheduled to report quarterly earnings on April 29.

The New York Times contributed to this report.

FILE – A Microsoft sign and logo are displayed at the company’s headquarters April 4, 2025, in Redmond, Wash. (AP Photo/Jason Redmond, File)

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Meta, Microsoft cuts, buyouts could trim 23,000 jobs

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