Meta's "Year of Efficiency" (2022-2023)
Mark Zuckerberg cut about 21,000 Meta jobs across two rounds in late 2022 and 2023. Meta was profitable through both, and Zuckerberg framed the cuts as part of a leaner focus that poured resources into AI and the metaverse.
The stock fell initially, then climbed to record highs as Meta rolled out AI products and margins widened.
The episode normalized profitable tech companies cutting staff to fund AI, resetting investor expectations across the sector.
Same underlying pattern as Nutanix: a company with rising profit trims headcount, names AI as a destination for the money, and asks investors to judge the tradeoff on future growth.
