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The Guardian - US
The Guardian - US
Technology
Sanya Mansoor

SHOCKING: Microsoft and meta announce sweeping layoffs as they spend big on ai | Mind Blowing Facts

a man speaks on stage
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella during the Microsoft AI tour in Sydney, Australia, in April 2026. Photograph: George Chan/Getty Images

Meta and Microsoft are trimming their workforces by thousands as they make heavy investments in AI and executives claim that the technology is meeting their companies’ productivity needs.

Meta told staff on Thursday that on 20 May it would cut some 10% of its personnel – just under 8,000 employees– to boost efficiency, part of a layoff plan made months ago. The company is also closing about 6,000 open roles. The same day, Microsoft announced to employees, for the first time, that it would offer voluntary retirement to about 7% of its American workforce of roughly 125,000.

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