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Meta reportedly cuts stock awards by 5% for most employees
Meta has reduced its annual stock awards for most employees by about 5 percent for the second consecutive year, following a roughly 10 percent cut last year, according to sources familiar with the matter.
The company, which is investing heavily in AI and data centers, has allocated up to US$130 billion in capital expenditures for 2026.
Despite broad cuts to equity rewards, Meta is adjusting its performance review system to offer higher incentives for top performers, which has increased its overall compensation budget.
Some employees expressed frustration on anonymous message boards about the reductions, but others indicated they are unlikely to leave amid a competitive tech jobs market and high pay levels.
Meta declined to comment on the changes.
🔗 Source: Financial Times
🧠 Food for thought
Implications, context, and why it matters.
Meta’s stock award cuts sit beside a record capital spending push
- The compensation shift comes as Meta plans $115 to $135 billion in 2026 capital expenditures, largely for AI infrastructure like data centers 1.
- That pace jumps from $69.7 billion in fiscal year 2025 purchases of property and equipment 1.
- The outlay has stirred investor arguments about thinner margins, after a $19.2 billion 2025 operating loss at Reality Labs (Meta’s virtual reality and metaverse unit) 1.
- Tighter stock awards can help Meta project cost control while it pours money into AI.
Big tech is rewriting pay as the AI talent fight heats up
- Meta is moving away from broad stock grants and leaning harder on rewards aimed at top performers who build AI systems.
- Business results were still strong, with advertising revenue up 24% year over year in the last quarter of 2025 1.
- The approach shifts dollars toward a small group of elite AI engineers who can deliver outsized gains.
- As rivals also spend billions on AI, equity may land with fewer employees, which widens pay gaps across the tech industry.
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