Mumbai, October 4: According to two sources familiar with the matter who spoke to Reuters on Tuesday, Meta is planning to lay off employees on Wednesday in the unit of its metaverse-oriented Reality Labs division focused on creating custom silicon. The employees of Mark Zuckerberg-owned firm were informed of the layoffs in a post on Meta's internal discussion forum Workplace on Tuesday. Meta Layoffs To Continue: Facebook Parent Company Preparing To Fire 6,000 More Employees in Third Round of Job Cuts.

Reportedly, the post mentioned they would be notified about their status with the company by early Wednesday morning, one of the sources said. A Meta spokesperson declined to comment on the plans. Reuters was not able to determine the extent of the cuts to the silicon unit, called Facebook Agile Silicon Team, or FAST.

The FAST unit of Meta’s Reality Labs division, which has approximately 600 employees, worked on developing custom chips to equip Meta’s devices to perform unique tasks and operate more efficiently, differentiating them from others entering the nascent AR/VR market. Meta recently launched a new generation of its mixed reality headset called Quest 3 and updated its smart glasses in partnership with EssilorLuxottica. The new Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses collection features improved audio and cameras, over 150 different custom frame and lens combinations, and they’re lighter and more comfortable. Meta Likely To Charge USD 14 per Month for Ad-Free Instagram or Facebook in Europe, Says Reports.

One source said the company is also working on augmented reality glasses capable of projecting virtual objects onto see-through lenses, along with associated smartwatches.

Meta has been cutting jobs since November last year to reduce costs and address concerns about waning revenue growth, high inflation, and Reality Labs’ financial performance. The Mark Zuckerberg-owned platform has laid off around 21,000 jobs since November 2022.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 04, 2023 12:08 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).