Meta to Issues Layoffs at Reality Labs Chipmaker, Reuters Reports

Meta Platforms is set to lay off a fresh round of workers from its Reality Labs division, Reuters reported on Wednesday. The department in question is the Facebook Agile Silicon Team (FAST), linked to Meta’s bespoke silicon designing capabilities.

Initially, employees received notice of their redundancies on Workplace, Meta’s internal discussion forum, on Tuesday, two sources familiar with the situation told Reuters the day before the announcement.

In the post, the Menlo Park-based firm would notify workers of their status with the company by Wednesday morning, one source told Reuters.

Currently, FAST hosts 600 staff, many of whom are building bespoke semiconductors for Meta’s device lineup. These allow the company to compete with chipsets for designated tasks, computing requirements, and efficiency.

Details on Meta Layoffs

According to the report, massive cuts could create obstacles for Mark Zuckerberg, Founder and Chief Executive, Meta, in his quest for an innovative virtual, augmented, and mixed reality (VR/AR/MR) family of products.

Despite this, the company has failed to roll out the semiconductors and currently relies on Qualcomm’s Snapdragon XR2 Gen 2 chipset to power the Quest 3.

Meta recently revealed its mixed reality Quest 3 headset at the Connect 2023 event on 27 September, along with plans to step up its AR smart glass capabilities. The company also introduced a second iteration of its Ray-Ban AR smart glasses from its longstanding partnership with EssilorLuxottica.

Amid the restructuring of the FAST unit, where a new executive stepped in to lead in the Spring of this year, Meta has also been developing artificial intelligence (AI) chipsets for its AI computing goals.

Finally, Meta has seemingly scaled back its discussions on the Metaverse at Connect 2023, preferring to focus on its Quest 3, Ray-Ban smart glasses, and AI solutions.

Meta Q4 2022 Losses Trigger Restructuring

The news comes after Meta issued around 21,000 redundancies last year and earlier this year, with the first wave of layoffs slashing 11,000 employees, or 13 percent of its workforce, in November.

Revealed by anonymous Meta employees, the news found the impending layoffs would take place following the enterprise’s fourth quarter (Q1) reports, showing a massive $25.8 billion (22 percent) spike in its capital expenses.

Meta also lost significant revenues after Apple changed its privacy and data tracking policy, forcing Meta to haemorrhage earnings from its advertisement platform.

At the time, Zuckerberg stated that 2023 would become the “Year of Efficiency” and would redirect its efforts to become a “stronger and more nimble organisation.”

According to Zuckerberg’s March statement, Meta would lay off most of the round of employees by Spring, adding that “in a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes.”