Meta reportedly set to cut 10% of staff in Reality Labs metaverse arm

Facebook parent company Meta is reportedly planning to lay off around 10% of staff in its metaverse, VR and AR-focused Reality Labs division.

The New York Times reports that these cuts could be announced as early as today (Tuesday, January 13).

Business Insider has also reported that Meta’s chief technology officer, Andrew Bosworth, has called a meeting for Reality Labs staff for Wednesday, January 14 and urged workers to attend in person. The CTO said in a memo to employees that this was the “most important” meeting of the year, but did not provide any additional information.

Meta’s Reality Labs division employs around 15,000 staff. The company as a whole boasts a workforce of 78,000 people.

The Facebook firm’s plans to make cuts to Reality Labs were previously reported in December 2025. At the time, Meta management was reportedly looking to cut budgets across the board by as much as 30% during 2026.

“Within our overall Reality Labs portfolio, we are shifting some of our investment from metaverse towards AI glasses and wearables, given the momentum there. We aren’t planning any broader changes than that,” a Meta spokesperson said at the time.

Reality Labs had allegedly been singled out for deeper cuts, as there had not been significant competition within the metaverse space. Meta has also been under pressure its investment in the sector due to the heavy losses this division has incurred.

In February 2025, the company revealed that while the Reality Labs division had brought in $1.08 billion in revenue for the three months ending December 31st, 2024, the division had posted a $4.967 billion operational loss for the quarter. For the full 2024 financial year, the metaverse-focused arm brought in $2.1 billion in revenue with a loss of $17.7 billion for the 12 months.

For the three months ending September 30th, 2025, Reality Labs brought in $470 million in revenue and posted a $4.4 billion loss. Meta chief financial officer Susan Li also forecast lower revenue from the division for its fourth quarter (ending December 2025) year-on-year.

Since Facebook rebranded as Meta in 2021, the company has lost over $70 billion on its metaverse plans.