Laid off from Meta.
Meta has paid some of the most generous severance in tech, and has laid people off often enough that the playbook is well documented. Know what the standard package has looked like before anyone asks you to sign anything.
At a glance
What's known about Meta severance and layoffs
- 16 weeks + 2 weeks per year · Severance formula, every documented round
- 18 months for you and family · Healthcare, reported in the 2026 round
- RSUs vest through your last payroll day · Equity
- 3 months with an external vendor · Career support
- $1.18 billion · Severance Meta booked for the May 2026 round
- 25, covering 6,145 jobs · Meta filings in our tracker since 2025
Recent Meta layoffs
Meta's May 2026 round reached its Washington separation date in July
The newest Meta row in our tracker carries a July 22, 2026 date and covers 1,395 jobs in King County, Washington. Those employees were notified on May 20 as part of the roughly 8,000-role restructuring, and July 22 is the date their separations took effect rather than the day they got the news. Meta booked $1.18 billion of severance expense against that reduction.
Previous rounds
Meta layoff history
Meta's severance math has held its shape since November 2022, when Zuckerberg's memo put it at 16 weeks of base pay plus two weeks for every year of service, with no cap. The reported terms in the early 2025 round matched that formula, and the reported terms in May 2026 matched it again while stretching health coverage for employees and families from six months to eighteen. Meta's own 2025 annual report describes what a US package contains, listing severance payments, remaining PTO, restricted stock vesting through the last day on payroll, continuing healthcare, career services and immigration support, though it attaches no weeks and no durations to any of them. Everything past 2022 sits in reporting rather than in a document Meta published, which is worth knowing before you read your own agreement.
The dates on a WARN row rarely match the day people got the news, and Meta's record makes that unusually clear. Our tracker holds 19 Meta filings covering 5,736 jobs in 2026. The largest of them, 2,212 jobs in California, carries a May 22 notice date, a day after the restructuring was announced. The newest row, 1,395 jobs in King County, Washington, carries a July 22 date, but those workers were told on May 20, and July 22 is when their separations took effect. A 331-job King County row dated March 20 works the same way, taking effect well after the January announcement it belongs to. None of this is new for Meta. Back in March 2023 the company said it expected to announce restructurings in its tech groups in late April and its business groups in late May, and the notice dates that followed tracked that schedule.
The filings also count what the announcements skip. Meta reported a global workforce of 78,865 at the end of 2025, up 6 percent year over year, across twelve months that held two separate rounds of cuts. Six months later the June 30, 2026 figure read 75,472, and the company noted that the number still carried the roughly 8,000 people affected in May, most of whom would drop out of it by the end of the third quarter. The same filing put $1.18 billion of severance expense against that reduction. Reading those numbers next to each other says more about a year at Meta than any single announcement does.
Being cut from a job you built a life around is hard, and that stays true whatever stage of it you're at. For your own paperwork, the numbers that decide things are your years of service, your separation date, and your next vest. If the agreement in front of you uses the 16-plus-2 arithmetic, your years of service set the size of the check, so read the formula on your own paper before you count on any figure from the reporting. Google's January 2023 package used the same 16-week base and the same two weeks per year, which makes it a fair comparison if you're weighing an offer against what a peer has paid. Our tracker holds 111 Meta filings all time and 25 covering 6,145 jobs since the start of 2025, and you can read the underlying notices in our WARN filing tracker to see whether your site and your date turn up.
Reporting on previous Meta layoff rounds
May 2026 · About 8,000 roles, roughly 10% of the company, as 7,000 more moved into AI teams
Reported at 16 weeks of base pay plus two more weeks per year of service, with health coverage stretched to 18 months for employees and their families. Meta booked $1.18 billion of severance expense against the reduction, and Washington separations ran through to July 22. Zuckerberg's memo said the company didn't expect any other company-wide layoffs that year.
January 2026 · Up to 1,500 roles in Reality Labs, about 10% of the division
October 2025 · About 600 roles in the AI unit, with the TBD Labs group left out
Early 2025 · About 3,600 roles, 5% of the company, framed as performance-based, with US staff notified on February 10
Reported at 16 weeks of pay plus two weeks for each year at the company, the same arithmetic Zuckerberg set out in November 2022, on a round Meta framed on performance.
2023 · Around 10,000 roles across several waves, the Year of Efficiency, plus about 5,000 open roles closed
Meta said it would support people in the same ways it had before, without restating the terms.
November 2022 · About 11,000 roles, 13% of the company
16 weeks of base pay plus two additional weeks for every year of service, with no cap, PTO paid out, RSU vesting through the last day on payroll including the mid-November vest, 6 months of family healthcare, 3 months of career support, dedicated immigration specialists. The round that set the template.
How Meta's layoffs compare to other companies
Meta's 16-plus-2 with no cap has been the benchmark the rest of tech gets measured against. If your offer deviates from it, that's a question to ask before signing, not after.
Your stock and equity
In every documented round, RSUs vested through the final day on payroll, and Meta has structured separation dates so an upcoming vest could land inside the employment window, which can be worth more than the cash severance. Check your vest calendar against your proposed separation date before signing.
If you're on a visa
Meta has assigned dedicated immigration specialists to affected visa holders in each major round. If you're on an H-1B, your 60-day grace period starts at termination, and how Meta structures your separation date matters enormously.
What to do after being laid off from Meta
- File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Meta's biggest hubs: California, Washington, New York, Texas. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
- Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Meta's hub states run: California, Washington, New York, Texas, and every other state is here.
- Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
- Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
- Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.
Meta layoff and severance questions
Does Meta severance change if the round is called performance-based?
In the one round where both the label and the money are on record, they came apart. The early 2025 cuts were framed on performance, and the reported package matched the 16-plus-2 arithmetic Zuckerberg set out in November 2022. Terms for the October 2025 and January 2026 rounds aren't on record either way, so your own agreement is the answer that counts.
Will my next RSU vest count if I'm laid off from Meta?
Meta's 2025 annual report says a US package includes restricted stock vesting through the last day on payroll, and the November 2022 memo honored the vest that fell days after that announcement. In the May 2026 Washington action, notice and separation sat about two months apart, so a scheduled vest could fall inside that window. The separation date in your agreement is the one that controls, so check your vest calendar against it before you sign.
How long has Meta covered health insurance after a layoff?
Six months for the employee and their family in the November 2022 round, which is the one Meta spelled out itself. Reporting on the May 2026 round described coverage stretched to 18 months, an expansion from the earlier six. Meta's annual report mentions continuing healthcare without naming a duration, so confirm the term in your own paperwork before counting on it.
When do Meta layoffs actually take effect after you're notified?
In the May 2026 round the gap ran about two months. Washington workers were notified on May 20 and their separations took effect on July 22, and July 22 is the date carried on the Washington row in our tracker. Meta's quarterly filing still counted those roughly 8,000 people in its June 30 headcount and said most would drop out of it by the end of the third quarter. So a date on a WARN row can sit two months after the day people were told, and the date that governs you is the one written into your own paperwork.
How many jobs have Meta's 2026 WARN filings covered?
Nineteen filings covering 5,736 jobs across two states, going by our tracker. The largest single row is 2,212 jobs in California dated May 22. Across the whole record the tracker holds 111 Meta filings, 25 of which cover 6,145 jobs since the start of 2025. Those counts shift whenever a state publishes new data, so read them as the record we hold rather than a final tally.
What happens to my stock if I'm laid off from Meta?
In every documented round, RSUs vested through the final day on payroll, and Meta has structured separation dates so an upcoming vest could land inside the employment window, which can be worth more than the cash severance. Check your vest calendar against your proposed separation date before signing.
Where do I file for unemployment after being laid off from Meta?
In the state where you worked, not where the company is headquartered. Meta's biggest U.S. hubs are California, Washington, New York, Texas. Severance usually doesn't block you from filing, and benefits run from your filing date, so file the same week.
Is it OK to file for unemployment after a layoff at Meta?
Yes. Unemployment insurance is funded by payroll taxes employers pay on wages, the claim never appears on credit reports or background checks, and future employers cannot see it. If the hesitation itself is the obstacle, whether filing is OK has its own article.
What happens to my health insurance after a layoff at Meta?
Your plan sets the end date rather than the law, so the separation packet is where that date actually lives, and it is often the last day of the month rather than your last day of work. After coverage ends, COBRA lets you keep the identical plan by paying the whole premium yourself, up to 102 percent of what the plan really costs, which lands as several times the payroll deduction you were used to. You get 60 days to elect, counted from the later of coverage ending or the election notice arriving, and electing reaches the coverage back to the day the old plan stopped so no gap exists. How continuation coverage works walks the timing, and whether to take it rather than a marketplace plan is a separate decision.
Should I sign the severance agreement right away?
First pin down how much review time you actually have. If you're 40 or older, federal law gives you 21 days to consider an agreement that waives age claims, 45 in a group layoff, and a waiver signed under a shorter deadline can be invalid. If you're under 40, no federal window applies and the deadline in your packet may be real, so confirm it in writing and ask for more time if you need it. Use whatever window you have to read the release terms, especially non-disparagement and no-lawsuit clauses, and don't stall past a real deadline, because offers can be withdrawn.
Can I collect unemployment if I got severance from Meta?
Usually yes, though some states delay benefits until severance pay periods end, and lump sums are treated differently than salary continuation. Check your state's rules on our state benefit pages, and file immediately either way so your claim date is locked in.