Meta to cut 331 jobs in Washington as Reality Labs downsizing continues

Meta is set to lay off 331 employees in Washington state as part of wider job reductions in its Reality Labs division, according to a filing submitted to the state’s Employment Security Department.

The filing showed that the cuts will affect staff across four facilities in Seattle and the Eastside, along with about 97 employees working remotely within Washington. The layoffs form part of companywide reductions announced last week that will eliminate around 1,500 roles globally from the Reality Labs unit, GeekWire reported.

The largest share of job losses is expected at Meta’s Reality Labs office in Redmond, followed by its Spring District office in Bellevue, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filing. A Meta office on Dexter Avenue North in Seattle, which houses the Horizon OS software engineering team, has also been impacted.

The Horizon OS group, which develops the extended reality operating system powering Meta Quest virtual and mixed-reality headsets, was the single most affected team at that site, with 20 positions cut.

The filing stated that the layoffs are scheduled to take effect on March 20.

Reality Labs, which focuses on virtual reality, augmented reality and metaverse-related technologies, employs about 15,000 people, accounting for roughly 19 per cent of Meta’s global workforce of around 78,000. The division has recorded multi-billion-dollar annual losses in recent years as Meta has continued to invest heavily in immersive technologies.

The Seattle region remains one of Meta’s largest engineering hubs outside its Menlo Park, California headquarters, with thousands of employees spread across multiple offices. The company has previously reduced headcount in the region, including layoffs of more than 100 employees in Washington state last October as part of job cuts within its artificial intelligence division, the Wall Street Journal reported at the time.

The latest round of Reality Labs reductions comes as Meta recalibrates its strategic priorities, with executives increasingly emphasising next-generation artificial intelligence products and infrastructure over its earlier, broader metaverse ambitions.

Investors and employees are now expected to closely watch whether further restructuring follows as Meta continues to balance heavy investment in emerging technologies with pressure to improve efficiency and returns.