https://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/meta-expect...-165957935.html

Meta expected to lay off workers from Reality Labs division

Meta (META) will lay off an unknown number of workers from its Reality Labs division, according to a Reuters report. The business segment — which is focusing on the development of the tech company's metaverse — has about 600 employees and is expected to make most cuts from the chip-making unit.

Yahoo Finance Reporters Akiko Fujita and Rachelle Akuffo break down the report and discuss what this means for the company's long-term investment in the metaverse.

For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.

Video transcript
AKIKO FUJITA: Well, layoffs are expected to hit Meta platforms today. The tech giant is planning to cut an unknown number of jobs from its Metaverse driven Reality Labs division. That's according to a Reuters report. The unit currently has around 600 employees. And Rachelle, this Reuters report specifically saying that the cuts are likely to come in the chip-making unit.

But the broader question this is certainly going to point to is, you know, where does this bet that Meta made on the Metaverse stand right now? On some level you could argue some these-- some of the restructuring was expected when you consider that a new head was put in place within this particular unit.

But I can't help but think of the losses that the company has been reporting here-- $3.7 billion in operating loss in the last quarter, 21.3 billion in losses since the beginning of the year. You know, is this about Meta getting its financial house in order so they can continue that bet in the mixed reality space, or is it about downsizing a bit? That's the big question I think investors are going to be asking.

RACHELLE AKUFFO: And I think it might be a bit of both. Obviously, Meta declared this its year of efficiency, so really honing in on some of the areas where it needs to cut. It made this big bet on the Metaverse here. And as we look at some of the cuts here, we're expecting to see them to the silicone unit called Facebook Agile Silicon Team or FAST. So it could-- we don't even know how deep some of these cuts would be-- are going to be eventually.

But it does make us wonder then what does that mean for their augmented reality and virtual reality push that they have, which is a huge part of the Metaverse. Zuckerberg was touting the importance of having meetings in the Metaverse, so it'll be interesting to see how those investments are going to change.

You know, they've been pushing a lot more focus on AI and generative AI than they have been on the Metaverse here, so some adjustments here, perhaps some fine tuning on these investments. But still early days here. But as we mentioned, this is the year of efficiency, so a lot of changes could be on the table here.

AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, the year of efficiency, certainly probably key in terms of trying to understand where these cuts are likely to come from. We should mention the company did just launch or announce their Quest 3. You know, you think about the competition the company faces at least on the hardware side from the likes of Apple, Meta's seen as more of an affordable offering. It's a different use case that we're talking about, and they have made that big bet.

I mean, they changed their company name because they wanted to place that big bet on the Metaverse mixed reality specifically. So this certainly doesn't mean that they are, you know, giving up on it by any means. The company has said that they are invested in it for the long-term. But maybe a bit of a reassessment is happening here, maybe some rescaling as a result of the huge investments they had to make up front.

Meta is byllshit world

Eh i tot they managed to make their avatars super realistic ady

soo many years since rebrand... all they gotta show is a pair of specs... kekk .

I rather just have a meeting in Minecraft or Maplestory

I though got AI can talk nicely now?