Meta to Layoff Employees from Reality Labs, Reportedly Struggles—Quest 3 Affected?

Isaiah Richard, Tech Times 03 October 2023, 10:10 pm

Only a week has passed since Meta Connect 2023 ended and the massive plans of the company in VR and more were unveiled, but a new rumor details the company's plans to lay off a new batch of employees. This will center on the company's Reality Labs, renowned for its development of virtual and augmented experiences, including the latest Quest 3.

More layoffs planned for its different divisions and departments are still ongoing for Meta, despite already laying off many workers in the past year.

Meta Rumors: New Employee Layoffs on Reality Labs Coming

(Photo : ALAIN JOCARD/AFP via Getty Images)

A new report by Reuters has focused on a recent rumor that claims of a new round of layoffs over at Meta, with the company planning to remove workers from their posts on Wednesday morning, October 4. This was shared by two Meta sources which remain unnamed, sharing the company's post in their internal forum that details the upcoming firing.

The main department that will see the axing is Reality Labs, best known for its focus on Meta's Quest, metaverse, and more. More specifically, the Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST), a division of Reality Labs, will see the layoffs from Meta.

There are 600 workers under the FAST division, with the forum announcement not detailing how much will lose their jobs, with employees knowing if they are part of this come Wednesday.

Meta Allegedly Struggling, Is Quest 3 Affected?

According to Android Central, this recent round of layoffs has given a hint of its present struggles, with FAST best known for creating the custom silicon processors meant for its AR, VR, and mixed-reality projects.

(Photo : Meta)

The Quest 3 was recently unveiled by Meta, and with this new round of layoffs, it is unknown if its production and development are affected.

Meta's Layoffs and New Offers

Towards the end of 2022, Meta saw massive employee layoffs across its entire workforce, reportedly part of its so-called "Year of Efficiency," to help save the company.

Despite the struggle to raise its revenue and valuation, Meta has forged on to deliver new products and offers for the world, including its recent launching of the Quest 3 mixed-reality headset.

A massive struggle was seen on Meta in the past year, especially as it was reported that its CEO Mark Zuckerberg's plans for the metaverse and its experiences led the company to lose $3 billion. The many losses of Meta are something that Zuckerberg is looking to fight now, leveraging its new products to make way for the company's rally.

Another round of layoffs is rumored to be coming for Meta's FAST employees under its Reality Labs division, and this is despite the recent introduction of the Quest 3 which uses that this division brings. It is unknown how many employees are set to lose their jobs in this layoff, being a massive branch in the company meant to create silicon processors for its wearables.