1,500 jobs | Meta axes 10% of roles from Reality Labs division

Meta has confirmed that it will make a significant reduction of its Reality Labs division, resulting in the loss of around 10% of its employees, with the biggest impact expected among staff working on the company’s metaverse projects.

The Reality Labs division, which employs roughly 15,000 people, includes teams developing products such as virtual reality headsets and virtual social networks. Those focused on the metaverse, a vision for fully immersive digital environments prioritized by CEO Mark Zuckerberg, are set to be disproportionately affected by the cuts.

The firm's metaverse initiative has been a signature long-term project for Zuckerberg, who has pushed significant investment into the effort. Despite heavy spending, the division has burned more than $60billion since 2020 without producing a marketplace breakthrough for the immersive digital vision.

Reality Labs also encompasses hardware that has seen varying degrees of market traction. The division produces Meta’s Quest mixed-reality headsets and, in partnership with EssilorLuxottica’s Ray-Ban brand, smart glasses. It also works on augmented-reality glasses. Early consumer interest in the smart glasses has been a relative bright spot compared with mixed results for virtual products.