Tech
Facebook plans another round of job cuts, employees in this division may be sacked today
Meta, the parent company of Facebook, is planning to lay off employees in its Reality Labs division’s silicon unit focused on metaverse development. Sources told Reuters that the layoff is scheduled to be publicly announced later today.
The company informed employees of layoffs through a post on the internal discussion forum on Tuesday. According to sources, the employees would receive notifications about their status with the company later in the day.
Metaverse division could see job cuts in this round of layoffs
There is a possibility that the recent layoffs could negatively impact Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg‘s plans for creating augmented and virtual reality products, collectively known as the “metaverse.” These plans involve the creation of augmented reality (AR) glasses, which Zuckerberg believes will change the way we interact with digital devices. If the scale of the layoffs is significant, it could potentially slow down the progress of this ambitious project.
The unit that could be mainly affected is the FAST, which currently employs around 600 staff and works on designing custom chips for Meta’s AR/VR devices. The restructuring of the FAST unit was announced after a new executive was appointed to lead the division in the spring. Meta found it challenging to produce competitive chips in-house, eventually turning to Qualcomm for help.
The company has recently also announced the Quest 3 headset. According to sources, Meta is also working on more technically advanced AR glasses that look like regular glasses, along with smartwatches. The first version of this product is expected to be completed next year, but it may not be widely available to consumers at first.
Meta has cut about 21,000 jobs since November to reassure investors due to declining revenue growth, rising inflation, and significant financial losses in the Reality Labs division. Zuckerberg stated that most layoffs will happen in spring, with some extending through the year’s end in limited cases.
The company informed employees of layoffs through a post on the internal discussion forum on Tuesday. According to sources, the employees would receive notifications about their status with the company later in the day.
Metaverse division could see job cuts in this round of layoffs
There is a possibility that the recent layoffs could negatively impact Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg‘s plans for creating augmented and virtual reality products, collectively known as the “metaverse.” These plans involve the creation of augmented reality (AR) glasses, which Zuckerberg believes will change the way we interact with digital devices. If the scale of the layoffs is significant, it could potentially slow down the progress of this ambitious project.
The unit that could be mainly affected is the FAST, which currently employs around 600 staff and works on designing custom chips for Meta’s AR/VR devices. The restructuring of the FAST unit was announced after a new executive was appointed to lead the division in the spring. Meta found it challenging to produce competitive chips in-house, eventually turning to Qualcomm for help.
The company has recently also announced the Quest 3 headset. According to sources, Meta is also working on more technically advanced AR glasses that look like regular glasses, along with smartwatches. The first version of this product is expected to be completed next year, but it may not be widely available to consumers at first.
Meta has cut about 21,000 jobs since November to reassure investors due to declining revenue growth, rising inflation, and significant financial losses in the Reality Labs division. Zuckerberg stated that most layoffs will happen in spring, with some extending through the year’s end in limited cases.
