Meta's 25,000 Job Cuts Since 2022: How Trial Verdicts, AI Pivots, and Layoffs Are Reshaping the Tech Giant

Metaintro has been tracking Meta's workforce shifts closely, and the past few weeks have marked a dramatic inflection point for one of the world's largest employers in tech. Between two historic court defeats, hundreds of fresh layoffs, and a massive pivot away from virtual reality toward artificial intelligence, Meta is undergoing a transformation that will ripple across the entire job market. Whether you currently work at Meta, hope to one day, or simply work in an industry the company touches, the changes happening right now deserve your full attention.

What Happened With Meta's Layoffs in March 2026?

On March 25, 2026, Meta began laying off approximately 700 employees across at least five divisions, according to NBC News. The cuts hit workers in Reality Labs, recruiting, sales, global operations, and the Facebook social team. Affected employees in Washington state numbered 168, as reported by GeekWire, while nearly 200 Bay Area workers also received notices, per KRON4.

These March cuts follow a much larger January 2026 round that eliminated more than 1,000 positions from Reality Labs alone, representing roughly 10 percent of the division's 15,000-person workforce. CNBC reported that Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth announced the Reality Labs cuts via an internal post on January 13, 2026. Game studios including Armature Studio, Twisted Pixel, and Sanzaru were shut down entirely, along with a technical unit called Oculus Studios Central Technology.

According to Fortune, CEO Mark Zuckerberg has now overseen the elimination of approximately 25,000 jobs at Meta since 2022. The layoff timeline includes 11,000 cuts in late 2022, another 10,000 during the 2023 "year of efficiency," roughly 3,600 in early 2025, and the combined 1,700-plus positions eliminated so far in 2026.

Why Is Meta Scaling Back the Metaverse?

The short answer is money. Meta's Reality Labs division recorded a staggering $4.4 billion loss on just $470 million in revenue in its most recent quarterly earnings, according to Baptista Research. The company has poured an estimated $70 billion to $80 billion into its metaverse vision since rebranding from Facebook in 2021, yet user adoption has remained stubbornly low.

As one associate professor at Virginia Tech who studies social media told NPR, the metaverse was one of Meta's biggest failures when it came to hooking users. The virtual worlds that Zuckerberg promised would become the next computing platform never attracted the mass audience needed to justify the investment.

Now Meta is redirecting those billions toward artificial intelligence, where the company is racing to compete with OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google. CNBC reported that Zuckerberg has stated AI will make a "significant impact" on Meta's business in 2026. The company has not abandoned augmented reality entirely, as AR glasses and controllers remain part of the roadmap, but the sprawling VR gaming and social worlds that defined the metaverse era are being dramatically downsized.

As Metaintro CEO Lacey Kaelani told People Managing People, "AI is not completely eliminating roles, but instead restructuring roles and therefore slowing hiring for some jobs. What's actually happening is that companies are utilizing 'AI' as an umbrella for traditional cost reductions, not replacing employees who leave, and increasing workload for current employees."

This pattern is exactly what we see unfolding at Meta. The company is not simply firing workers and replacing them with chatbots. It is restructuring entire divisions, closing studios, and funneling resources into a different technological bet while expecting remaining staff to absorb greater workloads.

What Do the Court Verdicts Mean for Meta's Future?

In a single devastating week, Meta lost two landmark trials that could reshape the entire tech industry's relationship with regulators and the public.

On March 24, 2026, a New Mexico state court jury found Meta liable on all counts for failing to protect young users from child predators on Facebook and Instagram. The jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in damages, making New Mexico the first state in the nation to prevail at trial against a major tech company over child safety failures, as reported by CNBC. The seven-week trial stemmed from a 2023 lawsuit filed by Attorney General Raul Torrez alleging that Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act. A second phase of the trial, beginning May 4, will determine whether Meta must fund public programs to address the harms.

Just one day later, on March 25, a Los Angeles jury found both Meta and Google negligent in a social media addiction case, according to NPR. The jury awarded $6 million in combined compensatory and punitive damages to a 20-year-old woman who testified she began using YouTube at age six and Instagram at age nine. Meta was found responsible for 70 percent of the damages. Internal documents shown during the trial revealed that Zuckerberg and other executives had discussed strategies to attract and retain teen users, including one memo that stated: "If we wanna win big with teens, we must bring them in as tweens."

Meta has stated it will appeal both verdicts. However, the Los Angeles case alone could influence thousands of consolidated lawsuits against social media companies, drawing comparisons to the 1990s legal campaign against Big Tobacco. For Meta, rising legal liabilities add another layer of financial pressure on top of its costly AI pivot.

Where Is Meta Actually Hiring Right Now?

Despite the wave of layoffs, Meta is simultaneously on an aggressive hiring spree in artificial intelligence. The company currently has more than 1,000 AI-related job openings listed across platforms like Indeed and ZipRecruiter, with salaries ranging from $62,000 for entry-level positions to $240,000 or more for senior AI research scientists and machine learning engineers.

The hiring push has been anything but subtle. Calcalist reported that Meta recruited eleven senior engineers from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google within weeks. OpenAI CEO Sam Altman publicly stated earlier this year that Meta had offered bonuses of up to $100 million to lure senior AI researchers away from competitors.

The roles Meta is filling span research, machine learning engineering, software development, voice AI, robotics, computer vision, natural language processing, and multimodal foundation models. For job seekers with AI and machine learning skills, Meta remains one of the most active employers in the field, even as other divisions contract.

This creates a stark two-track reality at the company. If you work in VR development, game design, recruiting, or traditional social media operations, Meta's direction is clearly pointing toward fewer roles. But if your skills align with AI engineering, large language models, or machine learning infrastructure, the company is competing fiercely for talent and willing to pay premium compensation to get it.

How Have 25,000 Layoffs Changed Meta's Workforce?

The cumulative impact of Meta's layoffs since 2022 has fundamentally altered the composition and culture of the company. According to Fortune, experts say Zuckerberg's inconsistent behavior regarding layoffs is hurting employees who remain at the company. Workers have experienced repeated cycles of expansion and contraction, creating an environment of uncertainty that affects retention, morale, and productivity.

The workforce reductions break down roughly as follows:

• Late 2022: 11,000 employees cut as Meta confronted declining ad revenue and overhiring during the pandemic
• 2023: 10,000 more positions eliminated during Zuckerberg's self-declared "year of efficiency"
• Early 2025: Approximately 3,600 workers affected in a 5 percent workforce reduction
• Late 2025: Around 600 employees cut from the Superintelligence Labs division
• January 2026: More than 1,000 Reality Labs positions eliminated, VR studios closed
• March 2026: Roughly 700 additional cuts across five divisions

Meanwhile, a viral internal post reported by American Bazaar described Meta's AI strategy as going global, with claims that the company is using AI to boost productivity expectations while simultaneously reducing headcount. This "do more with less" approach has become a defining characteristic of Meta's post-pandemic identity.

For the broader tech labor market, Meta's trajectory sends a clear signal. Companies across the industry are watching how Zuckerberg manages the transition from metaverse to AI, and many are adopting similar playbooks of cutting in legacy areas while investing aggressively in machine learning talent.

What This Means for Your Career?

If you are a current Meta employee, the writing on the wall is clear. Divisions tied to the metaverse, VR gaming, and traditional social media operations face continued contraction. Proactively building AI-adjacent skills, whether through internal transfers or external training, is the strongest defense against future rounds of cuts.

If you are a job seeker in tech, Meta's pivot offers both cautionary tales and genuine opportunities. The company remains one of the largest AI employers in the world, with more than 1,000 open roles and compensation packages that rank among the industry's best. Roles in machine learning engineering, AI research, and natural language processing are not just surviving the layoffs but actively expanding.

For workers outside of tech, Meta's legal troubles carry broader implications. The $381 million in combined trial verdicts signals that regulators and courts are increasingly willing to hold tech companies accountable for product design decisions. This could drive demand for trust and safety professionals, content moderation specialists, legal compliance experts, and child safety advocates across the entire tech sector.

The key takeaway is that the job market at Meta, and increasingly across Big Tech, is splitting into two distinct tracks. Workers with skills aligned to AI, machine learning, and regulatory compliance are seeing growing demand and premium pay. Those in roles tied to older strategic bets, including VR, traditional recruiting, and general operations, face an uncertain future.

People Also Asked

Q: How many total employees has Meta laid off since 2022?

A: Meta has eliminated approximately 25,000 positions since late 2022, according to Fortune. The cuts span multiple rounds, from the initial 11,000 layoffs in November 2022 through roughly 1,700 additional positions cut in January and March 2026. The reductions have affected virtually every division, with Reality Labs, recruiting, sales, and global operations among the hardest hit.

Q: Is Meta still hiring in 2026 despite the layoffs?

A: Yes, Meta is actively hiring for more than 1,000 AI-related roles in 2026, with salaries ranging from $62,000 to over $240,000. The company has aggressively recruited senior AI researchers from competitors like OpenAI and Google, reportedly offering sign-on bonuses as high as $100 million. The hiring is concentrated in machine learning engineering, AI research, natural language processing, computer vision, and robotics.

Q: What were the Meta trial verdicts about and how much does Meta owe?

A: In March 2026, Meta lost two separate trials in a single week. A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for failing to protect children from predators on its platforms, and a Los Angeles jury found Meta negligent in a social media addiction case, awarding $6 million with Meta responsible for 70 percent. Combined, Meta faces $381 million in verdict damages, though the company has stated it will appeal both decisions.

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