Meta cuts 10% of Reality Labs employees in major restructuring move

Meta Inc. is beginning to cut 10% of employees, or more than 1,000 jobs, from its Reality Labs division as it shifts its investment away from metaverse products.

“We said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables,” a Meta spokesperson told FOX Business, adding that this action is part of that effort.

“We plan to reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year,” the spokesperson added.

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The impacted employees will be notified on Tuesday, an internal post from Chief Technology Officer Andrew Bosworth reviewed by Bloomberg News showed. 

Signage outside Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, Calif., April 20, 2023.  (David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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The division includes Meta’s hardware and other futuristic product efforts like VR headsets, AI glasses and virtual world products. 

However, that division has taken a beating, accumulating more than $70 billion in losses since 2021. Reality Labs faced a $4.4 billion operating loss during the third fiscal quarter alone. 

Meta’s AI glasses debut went wrong when live demos malfunctioned onstage, leaving Zuckerberg fumbling with the technology before a global audience. (Getty Images)

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Meanwhile, Meta and EssilorLuxottica SA, a Franco-Italian multinational eyewear and eye care company, are in talks to potentially double capacity for AI-powered smart glasses by the end of this year, people familiar with the matter told Bloomberg. 

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Oakley and Meta unveiled the new Oakley Meta HSTN AI-powered glasses. (Courtesy of Meta)