Meta Workers Push Back Against Monitoring Software as AI Restructuring Deepens

Mintesinot Niggusie

A group of employees at Meta has begun organising opposition to the company’s workplace monitoring practices and planned job cuts, distributing protest pamphlets across several US offices ahead of expected layoffs affecting about 10 percent of staff.

The flyers, placed in meeting rooms, on vending machines and inside restrooms, criticised Meta’s installation of mouse-tracking software on employee computers and urged workers to sign an online petition against the system.

The materials referenced protections under the US National Labor Relations Act, stating that employees are legally entitled to organise around workplace conditions.

According to Reuters, employee concerns have intensified over the company’s broader shift toward artificial intelligence, which has included both workforce reductions and the deployment of software designed to capture user interaction data such as mouse movements, clicks and navigation activity.

Meta previously said the data would help train AI agents capable of performing computer-based tasks by learning how people interact with digital systems in real-world settings. Some workers have linked the monitoring tools to fears that employees are effectively helping develop systems that could later automate parts of their jobs.

The unrest has extended beyond the United States. In the United Kingdom, employees have launched a unionisation effort through the United Tech and Allied Workers, part of the Communication Workers Union. The campaign operates through a website named “Leanin.uk”, a reference to Sheryl Sandberg’s book on workplace advancement.

Eleanor Payne said employees were facing increased surveillance and significant job reductions linked to the company’s AI strategy, while also contributing to the development of systems intended to automate workplace tasks.

The protest campaign represents one of the clearest public signs of organised labour activity emerging inside Meta as technology companies continue restructuring operations around artificial intelligence investments.