Meta slashes virtual reality workforce, eliminating 1,500 jobs

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is cutting thousands of jobs tied to its once-central push into virtual reality. Meta confirmed last week that it is eliminating roughly 10 percent of its 15,000-person Reality Labs division, part of a broader shift away from the metaverse and toward wearables such as smart glasses. The cuts amount to about 1,500 jobs globally, according to reporting by The Wall Street Journal, and include 331 workers in Washington state, based on a regulatory filing with state officials.

Of the 331 Washington-based layoffs, 105 employees were located in Redmond, while 129 were spread across Seattle and Bellevue. Another 97 workers were classified as remote but based in Washington. State data show that employees affected include those working on Reality Labs research, metaverse content, and Horizon, the virtual reality platform Meta heavily promoted when it rebranded from Facebook in 2021.

Reality Labs has been a cornerstone of Meta’s post-pandemic expansion in the region. Over the past several years, the company built out a sizable footprint across Seattle’s South Lake Union and SoDo neighborhoods, Bellevue’s Spring District, and a sprawling campus in Redmond’s Willows area. At its peak, Meta employed more than 8,000 people in the Puget Sound region, and executives once framed Seattle as essential to the company’s future.

In 2022, then–Pacific Northwest lead Paresh Rajwat said the road to the Metaverse “passes through Seattle,” calling the region Meta’s largest hub outside its Menlo Park headquarters. As losses mounted, Meta began pulling back from its aggressive real estate and hiring plans. The company backed out of occupying two office buildings in Bellevue’s Spring District and put them up for sublease in 2023 and 2024. It also allowed expansion rights for five additional development sites in the area to lapse and vacated a 190,000-square-foot office in South Lake Union, later taken over by Apple.

While Meta completed the Frank Gehry–designed Building X in Redmond in 2023, plans for a similarly sized neighboring building have been shelved. The retrenchment mirrors the financial reality facing Reality Labs: Meta reported the division lost nearly $13.2 billion in the first nine months of 2025, an increase from the same period a year earlier.

Meta’s cuts are the latest blow to a Puget Sound tech sector already reeling from sustained layoffs. Over the past year, the region’s two largest tech employers have driven much of the job loss. Microsoft cut roughly 3,160 jobs in Washington, while Amazon eliminated more than 2,300 Seattle-area positions, with the company warning that additional cuts could extend into 2026 as it trims what it describes as redundant corporate roles.

Meta itself laid off more than 100 Washington-based employees last October as part of cuts to its artificial intelligence teams, and the latest reductions suggest continued instability even as the company pivots toward next-generation AI development.