Meta has reportedly cut off around 700 jobs across the major departments, including Reality Labs. At the same time, the company has been rolling out the generous new stock options for its top execs. All of this comes as Meta continues to pour money into AI and considers even larger job cuts worldwide.
Meta cuts 700 jobs across key divisions
The layoffs hit several corners of the company: Reality Labs (that’s Meta’s Metaverse team), recruitment, sales, and the main Facebook division. The New York Times reported these cuts might only be the beginning, hinting at as many as 15,000 global layoffs on the horizon. A company spokesperson spun it as “aligning teams with business goals,” but for most employees, that’s cold comfort.
Reality Labs under pressure
Reality Labs got hit especially hard. This is the division chasing the whole Metaverse dream—except it’s racked up losses north of $80 billion so far. So, Meta’s pulling back on VR headset projects and trimming the team even further. This is already the second round of layoffs in Reality Labs this year—1,000 jobs vanished earlier.
Meta is doubling down on AI investments
What really stings for many is that Meta has announced a lucrative new stock options plan for its top leaders just hours before the layoffs. These incentives could mean as much as USD 921 million extra for each exec over five years, if the company hits an extremely ambitious USD 9 trillion market valuation by 2031—for context, Meta is worth about USD 1.5 trillion now. Mark Zuckerberg himself is not in on this new scheme, but it is still a big payday for folks at the top.
Meanwhile, Meta is going all-in on AI to fuel its next chapter. They’ve snapped up AI startups like Moltbook and Manus AI, recruited top talent (including ex-Google execs), and are sinking billions into new data centres. For 2026 alone, Meta expects to spend up to USD 169 billion—mostly on AI development and infrastructure.
Challenges in AI Development
But building world-class AI is not easy. Meta has further promised a new model, Avocado, from its Superintelligence Labs, which has just failed internal testing and got delayed. (Alexandr Wang, who runs MSL, joined after Meta acquired his company, Scale AI, in a multi-billion-dollar deal.)
Here’s what all of this adds up to:
- Meta is following a pattern you are seeing across Big Tech.
- Companies are slashing jobs to cut costs, but they’re also racing to build the future with AI.
That means uncertainty for workers, but a relentless focus on long-term dominance for the company.
