ZUCKERBERG PROMISED STAFF NO MORE JOB LOSSES IN 2026. META THEN NOTIFIED 1,400 WASHINGTON STATE EMPLOYEES THEY ARE OUT. Three weeks after Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg told employees he did not expect further companywide layoffs in 2026, Meta filed notices in Washington state announcing the elimination of nearly 1,400 positions across Seattle, Bellevue, Redmond and remote roles, effective July 22. The reductions fall hardest on software engineers and engineering managers, followed by technical program managers and data roles. Bellevue takes the largest single share with 699 employees, followed by remote staff at 231 and Seattle’s main office at 215. The Washington notices represent approximately 20 percent of Meta’s entire local workforce in the state. These are not the first of 2026. Meta eliminated about 8,000 jobs in May, framing it as a necessary reorientation toward artificial intelligence. Before that came reductions in Reality Labs in January and further trims across five divisions in March. Across all rounds, Meta has eliminated roughly 10,400 positions this year alone. In a June 12 internal memo, Zuckerberg acknowledged the company had made mistakes during its AI restructuring and would probably make more. The July 22 terminations will arrive six weeks after that statement. Meta’s AI investment continues to grow. Its human workforce continues to shrink. The pattern is entirely consistent. Keywords: Meta layoffs 2026, Zuckerberg Washington state workforce reduction, Meta AI restructuring, tech job losses