Horrifically and historically low morale, everyone is …
Inside the headquarters of the world’s largest social media company, the “Year of Efficiency” has reportedly turned into a year of dread. As the set date of Wednesday, May 20, approaches, Meta is prepared to let go roughly 8,000 pink employees, slashing about 10% of its global workforce. Despite the company reporting record-shattering profits, including $26.8 billion in net income for the first quarter of 2026, the staff morale has reached ‘horrifically and historically low’ levels.According to a report by Wired, the tension within Meta (the parent company of Facebook and Instagram) stems from a contrast: while the company is making more money than ever, it is choosing to divert those funds away from human staff and toward artificial intelligence (AI) infrastructure.Meta’s CFO, Susan Li, explained that the layoffs are part of a “leaner operating model” intended to offset massive capital expenditures. Meta said in its latest earnings call that it expects to spend between $125 billion and $145 billion on AI this year alone, which is nearly double of its spend from 2025.At a recent town hall, CEO Mark Zuckerberg told staff the cuts were a direct consequence of these AI costs. He declined to rule out further layoffs for the second half of the year, adding to the anxiety of a workforce that has already seen 25,000 positions eliminated since 2022.
‘Vibes are way off’
According to Wired, which interviewed more than a dozen current and former staffers, the atmosphere inside the company has turned toxic. One Instagram employee was quoted as saying, “everyone is unhappy; the only people who are not unhappy are, literally, executives.”The situation has become so grim that some employees told reporters they are actually hoping to be laid off. This is due to a severance package that includes 16 weeks of pay and 18 months of paid health care, which is seen as a ‘golden parachute’ that many see as a better alternative to staying in a high-stress, low-trust environment.Adding to the frustration is a growing wage gap between the elite leadership and new AI recruits. While median total compensation at Meta fell from $417,400 to $388,200 last year, Zuckerberg has been personally recruiting elite AI researchers with staggering compensation packages – some reportedly reaching $100 million.These elite hires are being hired for the “Meta Superintelligence Labs,” a division launched last year to keep the company at the forefront of the global AI race.
Surveillance of employees and resistance
According to some employees, the final straw for many was the recent deployment of surveillance software on US employees’ work laptops. Known as the Model Capability Initiative, the program captures keystrokes and mouse movements, periodic screenshots of apps like Gmail and Slack and clicks and general workflow patterns.The goal is to use this data to train AI agents that can mimic human employees. CTO Andrew Bosworth confirmed there is no “opt-out” for US workers, though European employees are protected by GDPR privacy laws.In response, staffers have begun handing out flyers at Meta offices across the country, labeling the company an “Employee Data Extraction Factory.”
