Meta is laying off 10% of its workforce after announcing mandatory AI training software that employees cannot opt out of

Meta announced it will install monitoring software on employee computers to collect data for training AI models, with no option to disable it. Days later, the company announced it will cut 10% of its roughly 67,000-person workforce—approximately 6,700 jobs.

The tracking software captures employee task and screen data without an opt-out mechanism, raising privacy concerns internally. The timing—pairing invasive monitoring with mass layoffs—signals Meta is aggressively cutting costs while extracting more value from remaining employee work.

For Meta employees and job seekers in tech: this signals the company is shifting toward a leaner, efficiency-focused model where surveillance of worker activity is normalized. For Meta competitors and clients: the layoffs may slow product development timelines, and the data-collection practice may become a recruiting disadvantage as talent-conscious engineers avoid companies with mandatory workplace monitoring.