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Meta is planning to cut approximately 10% of its global workforce, amounting to around 8,000 employees, as the company moves to reduce costs and redirect investment towards artificial intelligence.

According to an internal memo sent to staff last week and reported by Bloomberg, the cuts will begin on May 20. Meta will also leave 6,000 currently open roles unfilled. Chief people officer Janelle Gale told employees: “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. This is not an easy tradeoff and it will mean letting go of people who have made meaningful contributions to Meta during their time here.”

The announcement follows years of heavy spending on the metaverse, a bet that has largely failed to generate the returns the company anticipated. Meta has simultaneously had to make significant investments in AI infrastructure and products to keep pace with rivals, including a ground-up overhaul of its AI assistant platform launched earlier this month.