Following Meta’s massive workforce layoff, US Senator Bernie Sanders questioned whether artificial intelligence would further harm American workers. 

“Today, Meta is firing thousands of workers to replace them with AI. If Mark Zuckerberg is willing to lay off 10% of his own employees, what do you think his AI will do to the average American worker?” the US senator tweeted.

In his post on X, Bernie Sanders has also invited workers impacted by artificial intelligence and robotics to share their experiences in his capacity as the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

As the Ranking Member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, I want to hear from workers whose jobs are being impacted by artificial intelligence and robotics. Share your story HERE: https://t.co/FvrjRmzyke

— Sen. Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) May 20, 2026

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg informed employees in an internal memo on Wednesday that he does not expect more company-wide layoffs this year, according to a copy of the memo seen by Reuters. 

Reuters reported that he made the announcement on the same day the Facebook owner carried out a massive restructuring of the company, laying off 10% of its workforce globally and transferring 7,000 other employees to new initiatives related to AI workflows. 

“I want to be clear that we do not expect other company-wide layoffs this year. I also want to acknowledge that we haven’t been as clear as we aspire to be in our communication, and that’s one area I want to make sure we improve,” Zuckerberg said in the memo, as per Reuters.

The changes are part of a far-reaching overhaul currently taking place at Meta this year, as the company ramps up its AI investments in a bid to place AI agents in both its product offerings and its approach to work internally, the Reuters reported. 

Overall the layoffs and transfers announced this week are hitting around 20% of the company’s workforce. Some of the transfers have already taken place, while in other cases employees were notified on Wednesday. 

“I just got laid off from Meta. Obviously it sucks to lose the income. But between the never-ending layoffs, stack ranking, etc., I’m good. Pretty convinced that when I look back at this moment a few years into the future, I’ll be grateful it happened,” tweeted an ex employee. 

I just got laid off from Meta.

Obviously it sucks to lose the income. But between the never-ending layoffs, stack ranking, etc., I’m good. Pretty convinced that when I look back at this moment a few years into the future, I’ll be grateful it happened.

There’s a lot I want to…

— Jeremy Bernier (@jeremybernier) May 20, 2026

“Personal update: I was impacted by the layoffs at Meta this morning. Feelings of relief, curiosity, and excitement are mainly what I’m experiencing 🙂 I will be taking some time to reflect before looking for my next role. DMs are open if you’re hiring designers!”  tweeted another employee.

Meanwhile, in March Meta indicated that it was  planning to lay off at least 20% of their staff to fund its Artificial Intelligence (AI) push and focus on greater efficiency through AI assisted workforce.

Also Read: Meta is planning major layoffs in 2026 due to AI: Reports

According to a Reuters report published in March, Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp mentioned that it is planning a major organizational restructuring due to their aggressive AI infrastructure push.

According to the latest Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings in December 2025, Meta had 78,865 employees. In 2022, the company had hit a peak with 86, 482 employees but it laid off 11,000 staffers in November 2022. 

In April, Microsoft offered voluntary retirement buyouts to up to 7 percent of its employees. This was the first in the company’s history that it offered buyouts at this level. The buyout was a voluntary exit program of its employees. The decision was taken at a time when the company is undergoing major changes due to artificial intelligence. 

Major companies across the world have announced layoffs in the last several months, claiming that they are making heavy investments in the adoption of artificial intelligence. In May, Cloudflare, a U.S. based cloud infrastructure and cybersecurity company laid off 1100 people, more than 20% of their staff strength. 

According to a blogpost by Cloudflare co-founders Matthew Prince and Michelle Zatlyn, the decision was taken after the company’s usage of AI increased by more than 600% in the last three months. 

According to a report by Trading Platforms in just the first three months of 2026, more than 80,000 people have lost their jobs across the global tech industry with almost 50% of them directly attributed to artificial intelligence (AI). 

As companies struggle to keep pace with post-pandemic economic challenges, the rise of artificial intelligence is threatening not just entry-level jobs, but also senior leadership and top managerial roles.

The report revealed that as many as 80,117 jobs have been laid off in the tech sector from January to March 2026 with Oracle, Amazon, Block and Meta contributing the most. The U.S. accounted for the maximum layoff with 61,650 followed by Australia at 4450 and India at 2040.

Also Read: “I Helped AI Learn My Work”: Ex Oracle Employees on the Layoff They Never Saw Coming