Meta is laying off over 600 employees from its Superintelligence Labs AI division, which will affect the teams working on FAIR, product AI, and AI infrastructure. According to an internal memo, the company stated that the move is aimed at enhancing the company’s agility.
Meta Chief AI Officer Alexandr Wang communicated in a memo that the personnel cut will remove excessively bureaucratic tasks from the company, giving each worker “more scope and impact.” Wang stated that U.S. employees will be notified by 7:00 a.m. Pacific Time, whether their jobs are affected.
Meta restructures AI teams amid $15 billion investment
Meta anticipates that the majority of impacted employees will find alternative internal positions and encourages them to apply for other available opportunities within the company. Wang noted that “This is a talented group of individuals, and we need their skills in other parts of the company.”
“I’m really excited about the models we’re training, our compute plans, and the products we’re building, and I’m confident in our path to build towards superintelligence.”
–Alexandr Wang, Chief AI Officer, Meta.
Meta is still hiring for its recently established TBD lab, despite the layoffs of some employees. The recent hires include Ananya Kumar, a research scientist at OpenAI, and Andrew Tulloch, a co-founder of Thinking Machines. CEO Mark Zuckerberg‘s desire for more important AI advancements is reflected in the lab, which is a component of Meta’s larger $15 billion investment in Scale AI.
In November 2022, Meta laid off more than 11,000 employees, representing approximately 13% of its workforce. The layoffs coincided with a difficult period for Meta, which alarmed investors and saw its shares plunge almost 20% after giving vague guidance for its impending fourth-quarter earnings in late October 2022.
Meta’s growing costs and expenses, which increased 19% year-on-year to $22.1 billion in the third quarter, alarmed investors. The company’s operating income fell 46% from the prior year to $5.66 billion, while its overall sales decreased 4% to $27.71 billion during the quarter.
Global companies blame AI for widespread layoffs of staff
From tech to airlines, large global companies have been slashing staff as the real-world impact of artificial intelligence plays out, spooking employees. Last month, Accenture, a technology consulting firm, revealed a reorganization plan that included rapid layoffs for employees who cannot first retrain in artificial intelligence. Days later, Lufthansa announced that it would lay off 4,000 employees by 2030, as it relies on AI to boost productivity.
In September, Salesforce also laid off 4,000 customer service employees, claiming that AI could handle half of the company’s workload. Meanwhile, as it rapidly implements AI capabilities, finance company Klarna has cut 40% of its workforce. Language-learning platform Duolingo has announced that it will gradually shift away from relying on contractors and utilize AI to fill the gaps.
Fabian Stephany, an Assistant Professor (DRL) in AI and Work at the Oxford Internet Institute, claimed that there may be more to job layoffs than meets the eye. Stephanny stated that AI may have formerly been stigmatized, but these days, companies are embracing the technology as a “scapegoat” for difficult business decisions like layoffs.
“I’m really skeptical whether the layoffs that we see currently are really due to true efficiency gains. It’s really a projection into AI in the sense of ‘We can use AI to make good excuses.”
– Fabian Stephany, Assistant Professor (DRL) in AI and Work, Oxford Internet Institute.
Stephany argued that companies can effectively put themselves at the forefront of AI technology to look creative and competitive while still hiding the true causes of layoffs.
The professor explained that “there may be several additional reasons why businesses need to lay off some employees… Due to overhiring during the Corona “COVID-19 epidemic.” Duolingo and Klarna are excellent choices for this because there was overhiring during Corona.”
Stephany argued that some companies that flourished during the pandemic “significantly overhired” and the recent layoffs might just be a “market clearance.”
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