The first Big Tech layoffs of 2026 have happened. This week, Facebook owner Meta Platforms informed employees that up to 1,500 positions in its Reality Labs division would be eliminated. Here’s what you need to know about the job cuts.

What’s happened?

Meta this week notified employees in its Reality Labs division that up to 10% of jobs could be lost, according to a Bloomberg report. A day earlier, the New York Times reported that the layoffs were expected. Meta confirmed the news with Fast Company on Tuesday.

Reality Labs is a division of the social media giant primarily responsible for developing the company’s augmented and virtual reality products. The division was responsible for spearheading Meta’s failed metaverse virtual-reality world.

How many jobs are being lost?

An exact figure is not known, but according to media reports, Meta is aiming to cut about 10% of its Reality Labs workforce. The division reportedly employs about 15,000 workers, so a 10% reduction equates to around 1,500 jobs lost.

Bloomberg reviewed an internal post to Meta’s employees from the company’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth. In that post, Bosworth announced the 10% layoff estimate.

“We said last month that we were shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables,” a Meta spokesperson said when reached for comment. “This is part of that effort, and we plan to reinvest the savings to support the growth of wearables this year.”

Why is Meta laying off workers?

In the internal post Bosworth sent to employees, the CTO announced that Meta was shifting its priorities away from virtual and augmented reality, while metaverse resources will focus more on mobile device experiences as opposed to VR headsets.

‍

Read full article here