Meta Platforms reportedly started a round of employee layoffs as part of its plan to shift its workforce to high priority areas such as AI.

Bloomberg reported thousands of Meta Platforms staff received email notifications they are being let go. The news agency stated US-based employees will receive severance packages involving 16 weeks of salary and two weeks of pay for each year of their employment.

Eligible staff will still receive bonuses, and the company is awarding stock, Bloomberg wrote.

Meta Platforms CEO Mark Zuckerberg informed employees last month the company planned to cull 5 per cent of its workforce, around 3,600 people, explaining staff in the US would receive notice on 10 February and international workers at a later date.

On its Q4 2024 earnings call, CFO Susan Li stated it had more than 74,000 employees at end-December, a 10 per cent increase on 2023.

She noted staff pay would be the next-largest driver of expense growth after infrastructure in 2025 as the company shifts more resources towards generative AI, its Reality Labs division, infrastructure monetisation, and regulation and compliance.

Last month, Zuckerberg revealed Meta Platforms planned capex of $60 billion to $65 billion in 2025, as part of a scheme to broaden its AI infrastructure.