What do Steve Huynh and Dimitri think is behind the Meta layoffs?

Dimitri thinks some executives believe in a radical change, encouraged by Twitter surviving Elon Musk's cut of roughly 80% of staff, and may wonder whether a 20% cut is possible. He also sees a partial echo of 2007 and 2008, when layoffs may have used outside conditions as cover. Steve Huynh suspects layoffs also help the stock price and remove hard-to-fire low performers, while engineers who lean into AI are being rewarded most.

• Huynh notes reports that Meta is trying to rehire managers who knew where the problems were buried.
• Dimitri adds that some high performers in specialist fields are quitting because they cannot do their jobs with the required diligence in an AI-first style.

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on A Life Engineered (2026-10-19). Read the whole episode summary →

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