The American company known as Meta* (which has been deemed extremist by the Russian government and therefore banned in the country) is reportedly preparing to implement additional rounds of layoffs.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on this development, citing anonymous sources within the company.
The layoffs, which have yet to be officially announced, are expected to affect the development of the metaverse and may be stretched out over several months.
The previous round of layoffs, which occurred in November 2022, saw Meta cut 11,000 employees (equivalent to 13% of its workforce) as part of a cost-cutting measure.
The company also introduced a hiring freeze until the end of the first quarter of 2023.
Mark Zuckerberg, Meta’s CEO, attributed the layoffs to misinvestment during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it is unclear which investments he was referring to.
The Reality Labs division, responsible for developing the metaverse, was also impacted by the layoffs.
Following the upcoming round of cuts, it is expected that employees outside of IT specialties, such as marketing and law, will be let go.
Furthermore, Reality Labs will reportedly close a virtual reality device project as a result of the layoffs.
Meta’s recent financial report for the third quarter of 2022 revealed that the company is anticipating “substantial” losses due to metaverse development in 2023.
The company has not specified how much it intends to spend on this endeavor, but it is known that approximately $6 billion was invested in the Reality Labs division over the past year.
Despite the anticipated losses, Meta claims that the increased budget will help achieve its long-term goals, though the company has not provided a timeline for the creation of the metaverse.