Meta began laying off hundreds of employees on March 25, 2026, affecting Reality Labs and at least four other divisions as part of a global cost-cutting effort.

The affected divisions include recruiting, sales, global operations, and Facebook social teams. Most impacted workers were notified on March 25, 2026, and others might be informed in the coming weeks depending on location.

Some employees in the wearables and ads units received an internal message instructing them to work from home on Wednesday. A handful of employees in Reality Labs and recruitment posted on LinkedIn that their roles had been eliminated.

The layoffs across these divisions are unrelated to one another. Some employees are being offered new roles while others may have the option to relocate.

Meta employed nearly 79,000 workers at the end of 2025. The company has conducted multiple rounds of layoffs in recent years.

Meta noted in its quarterly earnings report that it expected Reality Labs operating losses for 2026 to be similar to 2025 levels. In 2025, Meta recorded an operating loss of $6.02 billion on $955 million in sales for Reality Labs.

Meta projected that employee compensation would be the second-largest contributor to total expense growth in 2026, including hires to support priority areas, particularly AI. In January 2026, CEO Mark Zuckerberg signaled more investment in and a shift toward greater reliance on AI.

Meta has continued to cut jobs in its virtual reality division since at least the start of 2026. The company, formerly known as Facebook, changed its name to Meta in 2021 to reflect its prioritization of its virtual reality venture, the metaverse.

Meta has continued to invest billions of dollars in artificial intelligence and has invested hundreds of billions of dollars in AI infrastructure and in building teams with top AI talent.