Meta cuts nearly 1,400 jobs in Seattle area, 20% of local workforce, in sweeping AI revamp

Facebook parent company Meta is cutting 1,395 jobs in Washington state, about 20% of its local workforce, as part of a companywide effort eliminating about 8,000 positions as part of an aggressive push into artificial intelligence.

Details of the Seattle-area cuts were disclosed in a filing Tuesday morning with the Washington state Employment Security Department. The layoffs impact teams across the company, including those working on Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, advertising and infrastructure, according to the filing.

The company employed roughly 7,000 people in the Seattle region before the cuts, spokesperson Tracy Clayton said.

Meta’s office in Bellevue’s Spring District is the hardest hit, with about 699 employees losing their jobs. The filing also lists about 215 cuts at the company’s Dexter Avenue office in Seattle, 206 at its Redmond facility, 44 at a second Seattle office on Utah Avenue, and about 231 remote workers based in the state.

“The changes we are implementing vary by team and include layoffs, open role closures, and moving thousands of employees to business critical priorities across the company,” Clayton said via email.

The company disclosed the broader cuts in an internal memo in April, saying they were part of an effort to run the company more efficiently and offset heavy investments in AI infrastructure. Meta plans to spend as much as $145 billion on capital expenditures this year.

The Seattle-area layoffs will take effect July 22, according to the notice filed with the state.

This marks the latest round of Meta cuts this year. In January and March, it eliminated roles for a total of nearly 500 workers in Washington state, with its AR and VR-focused Reality Labs particularly hard hit.

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