‘It’s disrespectful’: Hundreds of Meta’s AI Trainers Could Be Fired

Hundreds of employees in Ireland he was given a job as a refiner Shave and AI models were told their jobs were at risk when the company started sweeping a new phase of resignationaccording to documents obtained by WIRED.

The affected workers are employed by Dublin-based company Covalen, which specializes in a variety of services content control and Meta writing services.

Employees were informed of the layoffs in a video briefing Monday afternoon and were not allowed to ask questions, according to Nick Bennett, one of the employees. He said: “We had a bad attitude (before the meetings). “This has already happened.”

In all, more than 700 employees could be laid off at Covalen, according to an email reviewed by WIRED. About 500 are descriptive data. Their job is to evaluate the products produced by the Meta’s AI models against each other company rules prohibit dangerous and illegal activities. “We’re training AI to take over our jobs,” says one Covalen employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation. “We act like a good idea for AI to imitate.”

In some cases, the work involves processing large amounts of information to try to bypass security measures that prevent people from copying child abuse material, reporting, or reporting suicide. “It’s a very tiring job,” Bennett said. “There was a time when we would spend days pretending to kill ourselves or sleep with the kids.”

Last week, Meta announced plans cutting 1 in 10 jobs as part of layoffs aimed at making the company more efficient. A memo published by the company said it indicated that the layoffs were motivated by the need to increase investment in other business areas. Although the memo did not mention AI, the company recently announced such plans almost double his income on technology. In January, CEO of Meta Mark Zuckerberg he said“I think 2026 will be the year that AI will start to fundamentally change the way we work.” In an email reviewed by WIRED, Covalen employees were told only that the layoffs were due to “reduced requirements and operational requirements.”

In a statement, Meta spokeswoman Erica Sackin said: “As we shared MarchOver the next few years, Meta is using the most advanced AI systems to change our way of managing products and services on our platforms, to provide the safety and security that people expect. In doing so, we will be reducing our reliance on external vendors and strengthening our internal processes. “

The latest layoffs are the second time Covalen has cut staff in recent months. In November, the company announced plans to cut jobs (allegedly around 400)finally a servant fight. Between the two layoffs, the position of Covalen in Dublin is about to be reduced by half, according to the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU), whose members include Covalen employees.

For the affected Covalen workers, their search for a new job will be hampered by a six-month “cooling off period”, during which they cannot apply to a competing Meta supplier, the CWU says. “It’s disrespectful, you know,” says a Covalen employee who asked not to be identified. “It’s rude.”

Covalen did not immediately respond to a request for comment.