Meta reportedly plans for "large-scale layoffs," but what about its metaverse division?

At the end of September, Meta had more than 87,000 employees, many of whom are believed to work in the Reality Labs division.

Social media and tech giant Meta is reportedly bracing for “large-scale layoffs” this week amid rising costs and a recent crash in its share price.

According to the November 6 Wall Street Journal (WSJ) report citing people familiar with the matter, the planned layoffs could impact thousands of employees across a wide range of divisions among Meta's 87,000 employees.

It's currently unclear whether the company's Reality Labs division, which posted a $3.7 billion loss in the third quarter, will see any staff reductions.

Last week, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said the company would focus investment on "a small number of high-priority growth areas," including its artificial intelligence (AI) discovery engine and its advertising and commercial messaging platforms. to the metaverse, stating:

“So that means some teams will grow significantly, but most other teams will either be stable or shrink over the next year [...] Overall, we expect to end 2023 with at about the same size, or even slightly smaller organization than we are today."

During the earnings call, the billionaire entrepreneur appeared to double down on the company's investments in these areas, saying he believed they were "on the right track with these investments" and that they should "continue to invest heavily in these areas".< /p>

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The report comes just a week after Meta released its third-quarter results, which beat revenue expectations and saw its operating costs rise. Its share price has also taken a hit, with shares of Meta currently priced at $90.79 – down 7...