Meta Lays Off Hundreds Of Workers, Including More From Reality Labs

Meta is laying off much employees. Of nan hundreds of cuts made connected Wednesday, nan Reality Labs section is 1 of nan premier recipients. The layoffs travel a time aft news collapsed that Meta executives (sans Mark Zuckerberg) could beryllium group for windfalls of up to $2.7 cardinal each nether caller salary packages.

Today's cuts of “hundreds” autumn good short of its reported 20 percent workforce simplification plans that leaked earlier this month. At nan extremity of 2025, Meta's workforce stood astatine astir 79,000 people. However, this could simply beryllium a smaller first information earlier nan larger cuts travel into play.

Earlier successful March, Meta reportedly asked immoderate managers to hole cost-cutting plans. The institution is looking to offset its costly AI infrastructure investments, which see a scheme to spend $600 cardinal connected information centers by 2028.

The layoffs are besides said to impact Meta's recruiting, sales, Facebook and world operations divisions. But nan Reality Labs cuts further exemplify really nan company's VR and metaverse bets grounded to salary off. Today’s cuts travel layoffs successful January that shed complete 1,000 jobs from nan division, which has mislaid complete $70 cardinal since nan opening of 2021. Now, contempt nan 2021 rebranding that pivoted from societal media to nan metaverse, Zuckerberg now progressively views Meta arsenic an AI titan.

In January, nan CEO forecast nan AI world Big Tech is creating erstwhile he said he was opening to spot "projects that utilized to require large teams now [being] accomplished by a azygous very talented person." That judge sounds peachy for nan dwindling fewer reaping nan benefits. Those farther down nan nutrient concatenation whitethorn person different thoughts.

Speaking of that sweet, saccharine C-suite life, Meta is taking a page from Tesla's Elon Musk salary package. SEC filings reveal that nan institution is readying a lucrative caller inducement strategy for six executives: CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li, COO Javier Olivan and CPO Chris Cox. They're group to person much stock-based compensation tied to performance. Bosworth, Cox, Li and Olivan could reportedly beryllium looking astatine bounties of up to $2.7 cardinal apiece.