FACEBOOK’S PARENT COMPANY META IS LAYING OFF 11,000 EMPLOYEES IN WHAT’S NOW THE LARGEST JOB CUT IN THE COMPANY’S HISTORY. THAT’S ABOUT 13 PERCENT OF THEIR ENTIRE WORKFORCE.

THE MOVE COMES AS CEO MARK ZUCKERBERG PIVOTS THE COMPANY FURTHER INTO THE METAVERSE, AND IT’S BEEN A CONCERN FOR SOME INVESTORS ACCORDING TO THE ASSOCIATED PRESS.

AFTER ALL META HAS POURED MORE THAN 10 BILLION DOLLARS A YEAR INTO ITS METAVERSE TECHNOLOGY, SHIFTING FOCUS FROM TRADITIONAL SOCIAL MEDIA TO A VIRTUAL WORLD WHERE USERS CAN INTERACT WITH ONE ANOTHER.

ZUCKERBERG IS BANKING ON THIS IMMERSIVE DIGITAL UNIVERSE REPLACING SMARTPHONES.

ALREADY 15 MILLION OF THE COMPANY’S CONSUMER VR HEADSET HAVE BEEN SOLD ACCORDING TO OUTSIDE ESTIMATES.

AND META’S FLAGSHIP VIRTUAL-REALITY GAME, KNOWN AS HORIZON WORLDS, HAS 300,000 MONTHLY ACTIVE USERS. BUT THAT’S TINY COMPARED TO FACEBOOK’S 2.9 BILLION ACTIVE USERS.

AND WHILE THERE IS SOME HYPE IN THE METAVERSE, INTERNAL MEMOS OBTAINED BY THE VERGE SHOW META’S OWN EMPLOYEES ARE BARELY USING IT – PROMPTING META’S VP TO ANNOUNCE A QUALITY LOCKDOWN TIL THE END OF THE YEAR TO FIX GAPS IN QUALITY.

AND ZUCKERBERG? WELL HE SAYS MORE COST CUTS FOR META WILL BE ROLLED OUT IN THE COMING MONTHS.

THE COMPANY IS CURRENTLY VALUED AT ABOUT 270 BILLION DOLLARS.