Meta begins global layoffs with 4am termination emails sent to Singapore staff

Meta has started a fresh round of global layoffs, with employees in Singapore receiving termination emails as early as 4am local time today (20 May) as part of the company's plan to cut around 8,000 jobs worldwide.

The layoffs are part of a broader restructuring drive aimed at reducing costs and expanding the company's investment in artificial intelligence (AI), reports The Straits Times.

According to people familiar with the matter, workers in the UK, US and other countries are also expected to receive notifications according to their respective time zones, while employees have been encouraged to work from home during the process.

The latest cuts are expected to affect Meta's engineering and product divisions the most, with reports suggesting additional layoffs could follow later in 2026.

In an internal memo issued on 18 May, the company said around 7,000 employees had already been reassigned to newly created AI-focused teams developing AI products and agents.

Meta, which had just under 80,000 employees at the end of March, plans to spend more than $100 billion on AI-related infrastructure and development in 2026.

Janelle Gale, Meta's Head of People, said many organisations can now function with "smaller teams that can move faster and with more ownership."

Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg has made AI the company's central focus as Meta competes with rivals such as Google and OpenAI.

The company has also reportedly explored collecting employee device data, including keystrokes and screen activity, to improve AI systems, sparking criticism internally.

More than 1,000 employees have reportedly signed a petition opposing the collection of such detailed personal device data.

Despite the layoffs, analysts say the expected savings are relatively small compared with Meta's AI spending plans, which could reach as high as $145 billion in 2026.