Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, has a blunt message for employees who hoped AI-driven productivity gains might translate into more time off: don’t ask.
During a July Q&A session, Bosworth was asked whether the efficiency gains from AI tools could be used to revive “Meta Days,” a since-cancelled programme that gave staff extra paid days off. His response, according to three people on the call, was direct and dismissive. “Stop asking about Meta Days. It’s very dumb.”
Bosworth went on to explain that any extra time generated by AI should be reinvested in the company’s product ambitions, not leisure. “I hope that what we do with our extra time is do even more and cooler stuff for the users who use our products every day,” he said. “I get an extra hour. You know what I do with it? I put it into that.”
He also suggested the employee should ask their parents what they would think of someone using every opportunity to request more days off from a boss. Bosworth later said he was sorry for coming down “too hard” and acknowledged the question may have been “tongue-in-cheek.”
A blunt answer inside a wider cost-cutting push
The exchange did not happen in a vacuum. Meta has spent much of the past two years reducing its workforce and reorienting the company around artificial intelligence. In May, the company cut roughly 8,000 jobs, adding to a series of layoffs that have trimmed about 10% of its staff this year. At the same time, Meta has