Tech conglomerate Meta, the parent company of major social platforms Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, is poised to cut hundreds of roles in Ireland as part of a sweeping global workforce restructuring driven by massive artificial intelligence investment. Approximately 350 positions based in the country are now at risk of redundancy, according to official filings and local media reports. Last month, Meta first announced to its global staff via internal memo that it would eliminate 10% of its total workforce – equaling around 8,000 employees worldwide – while also freezing hiring for thousands of additional unfilled roles across the company. Irish public broadcaster RTÉ confirmed that local staff received early-morning notifications alerting them to their potential inclusion in the latest round of cuts. The company has formally filed a collective redundancy notification with Ireland’s Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, confirming the scope of the proposed job cuts for the region. Meta currently employs roughly 1,800 workers across its Irish operations, and the company has not yet issued additional public comment beyond the formal notification filing. Industry sources familiar with the company’s internal planning have confirmed that the core driver behind the latest layoffs is Meta’s push to redirect massive budgets toward AI research and development. The tech giant has earmarked a total of $135 billion (around £100 billion) for AI-related spending this year alone – a sum that matches the total amount Meta invested in the sector over the previous three years combined, according to an individual who reviewed the company’s internal memo. This latest round of job cuts marks a return to large-scale restructuring for Meta, which carried out multiple waves of layoffs starting in 2022 that eliminated tens of thousands of roles globally. After those initial cuts, the company resumed hiring activity through 2024, bringing its total headcount back to pre-layoff levels by the end of last year. The 2026 cuts are the largest single round of layoffs Meta has implemented since 2023, and align with a broader industry trend among major technology firms. Dozens of other leading tech companies that are pouring billions of dollars into developing AI tools and infrastructure have also announced widespread job cuts in 2026, as companies reorient their business models and spending priorities to prioritize AI development over traditional operational headcount.