Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg gives a speech introducing Meta’s new line of smart glasses wearing Meta Ray-Ban display glasses during the MetaConnect event held at the company’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, USA on September 17, 2025.
Carlos Barria | Reuters
Meta CNBC confirmed Wednesday that it will lay off hundreds of employees.
The layoffs are being made across multiple organizations within the company, including Facebook, global operations, recruiting, sales and virtual reality unit Reality Labs, said a person familiar with the company’s plans, who asked not to be identified because the information is confidential.
Some affected employees have been given new roles within the company, the person said. In some cases, those new positions may require relocation.
“Teams across Meta regularly undergo restructuring and changes to ensure they are in the best position to achieve their goals. Where possible, we seek alternative opportunities for employees whose positions may be impacted,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement.
The layoffs come as Meta refocuses its efforts, and the social media giant is working on OpenAI, Anthropic, google.
The Information first reported the layoffs.
CNBC previously reported that in January, Meta laid off employees focused on its Reality Labs division and closed a number of studios that were developing VR titles. These job cuts will hit more than 1,000 jobs and affect about 10% of the division that makes Quest VR headsets and virtual social network Horizon World.
Meta shares rose nearly 3% in early March after Reuters reported that the company could cut more than 20% of its workforce. “This is a speculative report regarding a theoretical approach,” a Mehta spokesperson said at the time.
Meanwhile, Meta continues to grow its talent pool specializing in generative AI and related AI agents, a new area of focus for the company.
The company’s latest efforts include a licensing agreement with startup Dreamer, whose staff will join the Meta Superintelligence Lab. As a result, Dreamer co-founder Hugo Barra, who led the company’s virtual reality efforts from 2017 to 2021, will return to Meta.
Mehta declined to comment on the terms of the deal.
The company said in a company filing Tuesday evening that its top executives, including finance director Susan Lee, technology director Andrew Bosworth, chief product officer Christopher Cox and executive director Javier Olivan, will be beneficiaries of the new stock option incentive program. The plan is intended as a tool to maintain top leadership while Meta continues to invest heavily in artificial intelligence.
“This is a big gamble,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement. “These salary packages will not materialize unless Meta is highly successful in the future and benefits all of our stockholders. Like all stock options, they only have value if the stock price significantly exceeds the exercise price, and in this case it must be aligned with a very aggressive five-year timeline.”
Meta stock price chart from the beginning of the year to today.
