Meta to lay off 8,000 people worldwide! Fully investing in the AI field—Threads’ Taiwan PM Lead was also laid off.

Meta undergoes a global layoff of 8,000 people due to AI transformation, and the Threads Taiwan PM Lead was also laid off. Foreign media in-depth reports reveal the story behind Meta's wave of layoffs, despite Meta achieving record profits in the first quarter of this year, internal morale has plummeted to an all-time low.

Meta lays off 8,000 worldwide, Threads Taiwan PM Lead affected

On May 20, Meta issued a layoff notice to employees worldwide, cutting about 8,000 people (10% of total staff) to reduce costs, ensure the company can invest heavily in AI, and achieve a flatter management structure. Reuters' latest report states that after a 10% layoff, Zuckerberg expects no further large-scale layoffs this year.

In this organizational restructuring, Threads Taiwan PM Lead Glen Yeh was also laid off. He has worked at Meta for 4 years, and in 2025, he transferred from Facebook and Messenger teams to become Threads Product Lead.

Glen mainly focused on products related to creators, launching major features over the past year such as traffic cards, web redesign, and quick post quoting.

After receiving the layoff notice, he posted a message thanking colleagues for working with many outstanding, top-tier colleagues, while expressing regret that some new features like collection categorization were not launched in time.

Image source: ThreadsMeta global layoffs of 8,000, Threads Taiwan PM Lead affected

As of January 2026, the global active users of Threads reached approximately 320 million, with about 143 million daily active users (DAU) on mobile, surpassing X (formerly Twitter) during the same period. Qsearch reports that Taiwan accounts for 21.08% of users, making it the most active market for Threads worldwide.

• Related report: Surpassing X Twitter! Threads mobile users exceed 140 million, attracting advertisers' attention to Zuckerberg

Instagram designer avoids layoff wave, laments increasing AI challenges

One month before the layoffs, Evan Huang, a visual designer at Instagram with six years of experience, created an account to document the countdown to the notice, unexpectedly gaining a large following. On May 20, he went live to check if he received a layoff notice, attracting over 12k viewers simultaneously.

Ultimately, Evan Huang was fortunate to keep his job, but he did not feel joyful. He said AI technology has deeply integrated into daily work, reducing what used to take a week to complete to just three days, and in the future, the team may no longer need many designers.

Watching photos of former colleagues' internal communications turn grayscale one by one, he frankly admits that the challenge posed by AI is far from over, and he will continue to work hard and seriously consider the development possibilities for creators.

Meta achieves record profits, but employee morale hits rock bottom

Meta has experienced multiple layoffs in recent years, but this time the atmosphere was different. Foreign media Wired reports that Meta achieved nearly $27 billion in record profits in the first quarter of this year, but employee morale has fallen to an all-time low.

Low morale stems from multiple factors. First, Meta plans to transfer 7,000 employees to new AI projects to promote a flatter organizational structure. Many top engineers are forcibly assigned to the AI application engineering department, and refusal to transfer could risk immediate layoffs.

Meanwhile, employee compensation has also been impacted, as the proportion of stock awards in annual raises has shrunk for two consecutive years. Last year, the median salary for Meta employees dropped to $388,200, sparking dissatisfaction at the grassroots level.

Employees are data, Meta trains AI models with employees

The biggest employee backlash was caused by Meta's internal monitoring software forcibly installed on U.S. employees.

This software, called MCI, records mouse movements, keyboard inputs, and screen content, aiming to collect data to train AI models that can mimic human computer operations. Over 1,000 employees signed a petition protesting, claiming this seriously infringes on privacy and destroys labor-management trust.

• Related report: Training AI with employees! Meta pushes internal tracking tools, recording mouse and keystroke behaviors

Despite this, Meta CEO Zuckerberg still regards AI as the company's top priority, and has raised this year's capital expenditure forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion.

Meta executives require employees to fully embrace AI to boost productivity, but objectively, this puts enormous psychological pressure on employees who may be replaced by automation at any time.