How Meta's Latest Job Cuts Compare to Recent Broader Tech Sector Layoffs

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has cut about 1,000 jobs from its virtual reality and metaverse division Reality Labs, as it reportedly prepares to shift resources toward AI wearables and mobile features.

The Menlo Park-based company announced the layoffs Tuesday morning in an internal memo from Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth first seen by Bloomberg. Earlier reporting from the paper cites estimates that Reality Labs employs about 15,000 workers, making the cuts roughly 10% of the division's workforce.

“We said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables,” Meta spokesperson Tracy Clayton wrote in a statement to state press outlet SFGate.

The move was a “part of that effort,” and Meta plans to “reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year,” Clayton added.