Meta reportedly plans 'large-scale layoffs,' but what of its metaverse division? - Cointelegraph

Social media and tech elephantine Meta is reportedly gearing up for “large-scale layoffs” this week amid rising costs and a caller illness of its stock price.

According to Wall Street Journal (WSJ) study connected Nov. 6 citing radical acquainted with the matter, the planned layoffs could interaction thousands of employees successful a wide scope of divisions crossed Meta’s 87,000-strong workforce.

It is not presently understood whether the firm's Reality Labs division, which registered a $3.7 cardinal nonaccomplishment successful the 3rd quarter, would spot unit cuts. 

Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said that the institution would beryllium focusing its concern connected “a tiny fig of high-priority maturation areas," including its Artificial Intelligence (AI) Discovery Engine and its advertisement and concern messaging platforms successful summation to the Metaverse, stating: 

“So that means immoderate teams volition turn meaningfully, but astir different teams volition enactment level oregon shrink implicit the adjacent twelvemonth [...] In aggregate, we expect to extremity 2023 arsenic either astir the aforesaid size, oregon adjacent a somewhat smaller enactment than we are today.”

During the net call, the billionaire entrepreneur appeared to treble down connected the firm’s investments successful these areas, saying helium believes they’re “on the close way with these investments” and should “keep investing heavy successful these areas.”

Related: Zuckerberg’s $100B metaverse gamble is ‘super-sized and terrifying’ — Shareholder

The study comes lone a week aft Meta reported its third-quarter earnings, which missed gross expectations and saw a emergence successful its operating costs. Its banal terms besides took a battering, with shares successful Meta presently priced astatine $90.79 — down 7.56% implicit the past 5 days and 73.19% year-on-year, according to Yahoo Finance.

The institution appears to inactive beryllium actively hiring into its metaverse part regardless, with its database of occupation openings revealing 38 of its 413 listings are related to Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality.

Cointelegraph has reached retired to Meta for clarification and whether determination would beryllium immoderate changes to its metaverse division  but did not person an contiguous response.