Meta plans to cut about 10% of employees in Reality Labs business

Meta plans to cut about 10 per cent of the employees in its Reality Labs division who work on products including the metaverse, according to three people with knowledge of the discussions, as the company shifts priorities to build next-generation artificial intelligence (AI).

- Mike Isaac and Eli Tan

The cuts to Reality Labs, which has about 15,000 employees, were expected to be announced as soon as Jan 13.

The layoffs would be a fraction of Meta’s total workforce of 78,000, but are set to disproportionately affect those in the metaverse unit who work on virtual reality (VR) headsets and a VR-based social network, said the people. The cuts could end up affecting more than 10 per cent of the division, one of the people said.

Mr Andrew Bosworth, Meta’s chief technology officer who oversees Reality Labs, has called a meeting for Jan 14 and has urged staff to attend in person, according to a memo sent to employees last week, which was obtained by The New York Times. Mr Bosworth said the meeting was the “most important” of the year.