More than 700 workers employed by Dublin-based contractor Covalen are at risk of losing their jobs after Meta moved to reduce its reliance on third-party vendors for AI training and content moderation work, according to documents obtained by WIRED.
Affected employees were informed of the layoffs during a brief video call on Monday, April 28, 2026, and were not permitted to ask questions. Roughly 500 of those at risk are data annotators responsible for checking content generated by Meta’s AI models against company rules prohibiting dangerous and illegal material. “It’s essentially training the AI to take over our jobs,” said one anonymous Covalen employee. “We take actions as the perfect decision for the AI to emulate.”
The announcement follows Meta’s broader company-wide layoffs, disclosed last week, targeting one in 10 jobs to improve operational efficiency. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated in January 2026 that “AI is going to dramatically change the way that we work.” In a statement, Meta spokesperson Erica Sackin said the company plans to deploy “more advanced AI systems to transform our approach to content enforcement,” reducing dependence on outside vendors in the process. Covalen employees were told only that cuts stemmed from “reduced demand and operational requirements.”
This is the second round of layoffs at Covalen in recent months. A previous cut of around 400 positions in November prompted a worker strike. Combined, the two rounds are on track to nearly halve Covalen’s Dublin headcount, according to the Communications Workers’ Union (CWU).
Workers described the role as psychologically demanding, involving tasks such as crafting prompts designed to test AI safety guardrails against harmful content. “There was a stage where we had to spend days on end pretending to be suicidal or a pedophile,” said Nick Bennett, one of the employees on the call.
The situation may be further complicated for departing workers by a six-month “cooldown period” that, according to the CWU, bars them from applying to competing Meta vendors. “It’s undignified, you know,” the anonymous employee said. “It’s rude.” Covalen did not respond to a request for comment.
Source: Business Latest