Meta halts wave of AI-related layoffs

Morale at Meta has dropped from 74% to 55%, while Mark Zuckerberg admitted in July that AI agents were not progressing at the hoped-for pace. Internally, a plan called Project OT aimed for team cuts of up to 60%, with agents supervised by small human groups. On May 19, the group canceled the second wave of layoffs scheduled for November, amid technical inefficiencies, investor criticism, and employee revolt.

Morale falls from 74% to 55% and Zuckerberg admits a delay

Internal perception indicators fell from 74% to 55%. In July, Mark Zuckerberg acknowledged that agent technology had not advanced as quickly as he had hoped, publicly acknowledging a gap between stated ambition and the actual state of the tools.

Project OT aimed for up to 60% cuts and supervised agents

Internal documents from Meta reveal a project called Project OT. This plan aimed to reduce the size of many teams by up to 60%, with the remaining tasks assigned to small human teams responsible for supervising virtual AI workers. The initial intention was to ultimately replace a much higher proportion of staff than previously communicated.

Second wave of November halted on May 19 after pushback

On the evening of May 19, just hours before the first round of layoffs, Mark Zuckerberg canceled the second wave scheduled for November. Several factors contributed to this turnaround: the agent technology did not deliver the productivity gains expected by Meta, investors criticized the scale of the budget allocated to AI, and the workforce rebelled. Employees, convinced that the software tracking their clicks and keystrokes was leading to their replacements, flooded the internal network with hostile messages. In this context, the plan failed.