TechnologyMay 19, 2026

Meta shifts staff to AI while cutting jobs

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② Start Lesson

Key Vocabulary

reassign/ˌriːəˈsaɪn/

to give someone a new job or task in the same company

"The company will reassign some workers to AI teams."

lay off/leɪ ˈɔːf/

to stop employing someone, usually because there is less work

"The firm had to lay off many workers."

memo/ˈmɛmoʊ/

a short written message sent within a company

"A memo told employees about the changes."

Listening

Meta shifts staff to AI while cutting jobs

Meta, the company that owns Facebook and Instagram, reassigns 7,000 employees to new jobs focused on artificial intelligence. Janelle Gale, Meta’s Chief People Officer, said many leaders will announce organizational changes and smaller teams will form. The company moves many staff into teams that build AI tools and agents. The changes aim to make work more productive and rewarding.

Meta will also lay off about 8,000 people and pause hiring for 6,000 open roles. The first notices will go out on May 20, and employees in North America were asked to work from home that day. Some employees reacted with protests and asked about new monitoring tools. Meta says it will support people who leave.

115 words

Quiz

1. Who is Meta’s Chief People Officer?

2. How many employees were reassigned to AI jobs?

3. When will the first notices go out?

Reading Practice

Read the article from the Listening section aloud. Your AI teacher will give you pronunciation feedback.

Discussion

Do you use AI tools at work or at home? How do they help you?

Have you ever had your job changed by your company? What happened?

What do you think when a company makes smaller teams to work faster?