Meta is cutting nearly 1,400 jobs across its Seattle-area offices, with layoffs set to take effect by July 22, 2026. The move spans three cities in King County, Washington, and marks one of the largest single-region workforce reductions in the company’s recent history.

The 1,395 affected employees break down across locations: 699 in Bellevue, 259 in Seattle, 206 in Redmond, and 231 remote workers tied to the region. Notifications began on May 20, 2026, giving workers roughly two months of notice before the cuts go into effect.

The bigger picture: 8,000 jobs globally

These King County layoffs aren’t an isolated event. They’re part of a global workforce reduction of approximately 8,000 positions that Meta announced in April 2026, representing roughly 10% of the company’s total headcount.

Alongside the 8,000 eliminated roles, the company plans to close 6,000 open positions that were never filled and reassign approximately 7,000 existing employees into AI-focused roles.

This isn’t the first round of cuts in the Pacific Northwest this year, either. Earlier in 2026, Meta’s Reality Labs division, the unit responsible for virtual reality hardware and metaverse software, trimmed between 168 and 331 jobs in the Seattle area.

From metaverse to AI: the pivot nobody’s hiding

The 7,000 employees being reassigned to AI-centric positions represent a massive internal talent migration. Meta is essentially running two workforce operations simultaneously: one that removes roles the company no longer considers essential, and another that repositions existing talent toward the technology it believes will define the next decade.

Meta has a workforce of approximately 7,500 to 8,000 employees in the Puget Sound region. Bellevue alone is losing 699 positions, making it the hardest-hit city in the region.

What this means for investors and the tech landscape

None of the layoffs or restructuring announcements reference any blockchain-related projects. For those who had been watching Meta’s on-again, off-again relationship with crypto, including Libra, later renamed Diem, which was abandoned in 2022, this latest round of cuts confirms that digital assets aren’t part of the company’s current strategic calculus.

The July 22 deadline gives affected employees roughly two months from the initial notification date to prepare for the transition.