Meta has begun bringing some managers back into its Applied AI division, reversing part of a restructuring that had moved staff into individual contributor roles and reduced management layers across the company.
The transition is voluntary, with individual contributors in the division being asked whether they would consider returning to management positions. The move highlights the difficulty of combining leaner structures with the coordination required to develop and deploy advanced AI systems.
Applied AI was created in 2026 to connect Meta’s research work with the delivery of products. The engineering division trains AI models and helps accelerate their introduction across the company’s services.
About 7,000 employees were reassigned to the unit earlier this year, including people who had previously been managers before moving into non-management roles.
Meta’s AI reorganisation
The decision represents a partial retreat from Meta’s drive towards a flatter organisation under chief executive Mark Zuckerberg. Executives had argued that smaller teams and fewer reporting layers would speed up decisions, cut bureaucracy and help absorb the rising cost of AI investment.
The company began a similar process in 2023, when Zuckerberg described the period as Meta’s “year of efficiency”. Managers and directors were asked to move into individual contributor roles or leave the business as part of an internal “flattening” exercise.
That approach intensified in 2026. Meta cut about 10 per cent of its workforce, equivalent to roughly 8,000 employees, and abandoned plans to fill 6,000 vacant positions. Managers were disproportionately affected as the company sought to simplify reporting structures and redirect resources towards AI development.
Meta’s reorganisation has also caused friction. Some employees reassigned to Applied AI were later given the option of pursuing other roles within the company. In July, 26 employees sued Meta, alleging that internal AI systems and activity-monitoring data had been used to target workers on medical, parental or family leave during the May cuts. The allegations have not been established in court.
Meta ended the second quarter with 75,472 employees, a 3 per cent fall from the previous quarter. The figure included about 8,000 workers affected by the May reductions.
AI spending continues to rise
The management changes come as Meta continues to commit billions of dollars to AI infrastructure and development. On the company’s second-quarter earnings call, Mr Zuckerberg said AI investment was increasingly influencing product development and longer-term growth plans.
“I’m also excited about how AI is helping our teams speed up product development,” he said.
Meta reported second-quarter revenue of 60.8 billion dollars, up 28 per cent year on year. Total expenses rose 55 per cent to 42 billion dollars as the company increased its AI spending and absorbed costs connected with the workforce reductions.
Meta did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the return of managers to the Applied AI division.
