Today, Reality Labs, the materverse-oriented division of Meta will be informed of a round of layoffs. This division that creates custom silicon has revealed the plan on an internal discussion forum. The employees will be formally notified now.
The exact number of people to be let go is not officially known yet. However, the reduction in headcount is expected to impact the creation of AR/VR products crucial to access the metaverse.
The Facebook Agile Silicon Team, referred to as FAST, has about 600 members. They develop custom chips for Meta devices and give them the much-needed edge over competition.
Meanwhile, Meta employees have begun returning to office. The employees at the parent company of social platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Trends are now required to come to the office thrice a week.
The employees were formally notified of this mandate through an email sent by the human resources department early last month, that is, September 2023. The tech giant has reportedly informed its workforce that failure to adhere to this mandate could lead to job termination.
This return-to-office directive does not impact employees who had previously been granted approval for full-time remote work.
Meta had adopted a firm stance regarding the return-to-office requirement. Earlier this year, Mark Zuckerberg, CEO, Meta, stated that employees working from traditional office spaces generally exhibit better performance than those working remotely from their homes.
