A source familiar with the matter said the job cuts were carried out on Wednesday and affected units including Reality Labs, social media teams and recruiting.

The scale is smaller than earlier plans, but it follows internal discussions about deeper reductions.

Earlier in the month, Reuters reported that Meta had considered larger layoffs that could affect 20% or more of its workforce. Those plans have not been fully carried out, but they are still part of longer-term restructuring discuss.

In a statement, a Meta spokesperson said, “Teams across Meta regularly restructure or implement changes to ensure they’re in the best position to achieve their goals. Where possible, we are finding other opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted.”

The company employed nearly 79,000 people as of December 31, according to its latest annual filing.

With these changes tied to high costs, Meta is increasing spending on artificial intelligence (AI), with total expenses projected at between $162 billion and $169 billion in 2026.

A large share of that budget will go into data centres, computing infrastructure and hiring specialised talent.

At the same time, the company is cutting back in areas that no longer sit at the centre of its plans. Reality Labs, which focuses on augmented and virtual reality, has recorded heavy losses in recent years.

Reports put those losses at about $16 billion between 2023 and 2025.

Now, attention has shifted, and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg has placed artificial intelligence at the core of the business, reducing the weight previously given to AR and VR projects.

The latest layoffs also touch sales, global operations and other support roles, according to earlier reports. Some affected employees, especially outside the United States, have been offered options to move into other roles or locations.

Meta is not alone in this direction. Other large technology companies have made similar decisions, cutting jobs in hardware and cloud units while increasing investment in AI.

The post Meta Lays Off Hundreds of Staff as Spending Shifts to AI appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

The layoffs hit the heart of Meta’s VR gaming. Twisted Pixel Games, Sanzaru Games and Armature Studio are being closed, bringing an end to teams behind titles linked to Deadpool, Asgard’s Wrath and the VR version of Resident Evil 4. 

Work on new features and content for the Supernatural fitness app has also been stopped, although the app itself will continue to run in its current form.

This looks like a retreat as Reality Labs has lost more than $70bn since 2021, driven by heavy spending on headsets, software and in-house studios that failed to reach a mass audience. 

The latest round of cuts affects more than 1,000 roles and removes roughly one in ten staff from the division.

Several projects that never reached the public are also being scrapped. Among them are a virtual reality Harry Potter title reportedly in development and scaled-back work at Camouflaj, the studio behind Batman: Arkham Shadow. These decisions reveal how much Meta is narrowing its focus, away from the VR game studios, among other areas.

VR gaming, once described as an important pillar of the metaverse, is no longer at the centre of the plan. The company is redirecting money and talent towards artificial intelligence and augmented reality hardware, with particular emphasis on its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses. 

Mark Zuckerberg has described these devices as a more realistic path to growth than fully immersive virtual worlds.

The transition is also changing how Meta courts developers. Instead of funding expensive, VR-only titles, the company is encouraging creators from platforms such as Roblox to build lighter, mobile-friendly experiences for Horizon Worlds. 

It is a move away from grand, hardware-heavy ideas towards products that can scale faster and cost less.

The metaverse vision is not gone, but it is being changed to be cheaper, and far less dependent on blockbuster virtual reality games.

The post Meta Shuts VR Game Studios After $70bn Losses appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.

This is the latest in a series of steps by the company to align its workforce with its long-term goals. 

According to sources familiar with the situation, employees working on key platforms such as Instagram, WhatsApp, and Reality Labs were among those impacted.

In a statement, Meta explained the rationale behind the restructuring, noting that the changes were necessary to meet evolving business objectives.

The company said some teams were relocated or given new roles, while employees whose positions were eliminated were offered alternative opportunities within the organisation. Those unable to find a new role were given severance packages.

Among the affected was Jane Manchun Wong, a software engineer who joined Meta’s Threads team in 2023. Wong, known for her expertise in revealing forthcoming app features, shared news of her layoff on social media. Her initial hiring had been publicly celebrated by Meta’s top executives, including CTO Andrew Bosworth and Instagram head Adam Mosseri.

Other former Meta employees also took to social media to announce their departures, some of whom had worked on Facebook, recruitment, legal operations, and design. 

Despite these reports, a Meta representative clarified that certain departments, including Threads and legal operations, were not directly impacted by the layoffs.

The layoffs come as Meta continues to adjust its workforce following earlier rounds of job cuts. In 2022, the company reduced its headcount by 13%, eliminating 11,000 positions. 

This was followed by a further 10,000 layoffs in 2023, as part of CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s broader restructuring initiative, aimed at improving efficiency across the tech giant.

Meta has yet to disclose the total number of employees affected by this latest round of cuts. However, sources suggest that some individuals were given the choice of accepting new roles under revised contracts or opting for a severance package.

The post Meta Lays Off Staff Across Reality Labs, Instagram, and WhatsApp Teams appeared first on Tech | Business | Economy.