Meta Platforms headcount drops 15% to 66,775 even as spending climbs

The cut lands alongside record capital spending plans and two separate $25bn legal verdicts against the company

Meta Platforms reported headcount of 66,775 as of September 30, 2026, down 15% from a year earlier.

The company posted Q3 earnings per share of $7.40, beating estimates, while revenue of $64.60bn came in just short of forecasts. Meta narrowed its 2026 capital spending range and raised its expense outlook after taking a litigation charge. That spending forecast now stands at $135bn to $145bn for the year, and Meta is planning to issue nonvoting shares and sell additional stock to help fund the buildout.

The legal charge follows two separate $25bn verdicts against the company. A Santa Fe jury found Meta liable on September 25 in a New Mexico privacy case, with the penalty set on October 1. A second $25bn verdict, over the Cambridge Analytica data breach, was entered separately. Reality Labs, the company's virtual and augmented reality division, is on track to lose $18bn to $19bn in 2026.

Fewer employees alongside record infrastructure spending points to a shift in Meta's cost structure toward computing power and automation rather than headcount, in line with chief executive Mark Zuckerberg's description of the company's AI investment as funding "velocity across the board." The reduction also comes months after the launch of Muse Wonder, which Meta had pointed to as evidence that its AI reorganization was already paying off, suggesting the leaner staffing reflects that reorganization settling in rather than a retreat from its ambitions.