Meta is cutting 198 more California jobs even as it pours billions into AI infrastructure
Meta has filed notices to eliminate 198 positions at two California campuses in late May — a stark contrast to its massive AI spending plans. The company’s filings with the California Employment Development Department’s WARN Act database list layoffs at Meta’s Burlingame campus on Airport Boulevard (effective May 22) and its Sunnyvale campus on Discovery Way (effective May 29). A Meta spokesperson framed the moves as “standard operational planning” and did not identify specific teams or roles.
These May cuts add to an ongoing wave of reductions. Combined with 219 jobs eliminated in January at the Burlingame site and further reductions in March, Meta has recorded 519 confirmed California layoffs via WARN filings in the first four months of 2026. Because WARN notices only capture mass layoffs that meet statutory thresholds at covered locations, the actual number of California job losses this year is likely higher. The sequence of filings points to continuous restructuring rather than a single, discrete round of cuts.
The timing highlights a clear contradiction in Meta’s strategy. While trimming headcount in California, Meta projects $115 billion to $135 billion in capital expenditures for 2026, with a large share earmarked for AI infrastructure. CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been explicit about the rationale driving tech layoffs industry-wide: if AI can perform work previously done by large teams, the company will need fewer people. At the same time, Meta says it is actively hiring specialized technical talent to build its AI systems.
WARN law requires 60 days’ written notice for covered mass layoffs, meaning these public filings reflect decisions finalized roughly in late March. Affected employees are entitled to notice rights and may have claims if the 60-day requirement wasn’t observed. Competition for AI engineers and researchers has been fierce through 2025–2026, and some of the impacted workers could be quickly recruited by other companies building AI infrastructure.
Meta has not said whether the May reductions mark the end of its California workforce cuts for 2026.
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