Meta is gearing up for another round of layoffs today. This time, it’s the turn of the Metaverse-oriented Reality Labs division that is focused on the creation and development of custom silicon. According to reports, the workers employed with the Facebook Agile Silicon Team or FAST were informed of the imminent layoffs via Meta’s Internal discussion forum workplace.
The post reveals that the Reality Labs division employees will be notified about the status with the company by early Wednesday morning. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment about the layoffs plans when Reuters made an attempt to reach out to them. However, unconfirmed reports state that around 600 employees will be affected by this round of layoffs.
Meta’s FAST unit is involved with the development of custom chips for the virtual and augmented reality hardware products manufactured by the Reality Labs division. Meta is currently developing a wide range of Mixed reality headsets named Quest in addition to smart glasses designed with Ray-Ban eyeglass maker EssilorLuxottica. This product automatically stream video and communicates with wearers via a new AU-enabled virtual assistant. Meta recently announced new iteration of smart glasses and consumer-friendly Quest 3 at its annual Connect event.
As of this writing, Meta is also working on the development of augmented reality glasses by leveraging the Reality Labs division. This product will be capable of projecting virtual objects onto see-through lenses including relevant smartwatches. Meta has virtually struggled to manufacture chips that can compete with silicon that is being developed by external providers. The Facebook-owned company currently depends upon Qualcomm for the manufacture of devices such as Quest headsets and Ray-Ban glasses.
