Meta Cut 700 Jobs to Bet Everything on AI. Is That Smart?

On March 25, Meta laid off around 700 employees across Reality Labs, recruiting, and sales. If you've been paying attention to tech layoffs for the past three years, another 700 cuts might feel like noise. But the pattern here tells a different story than the usual "belt tightening." Meta isn't cutting costs. They're reallocating. And the direction is unmistakable. What Got Cut and Why It Matters The three groups hit hardest were Reality Labs (the metaverse division), recruiting, and business-side sales roles. Each cut tells you something specific. Reality Labs has been Meta's money pit since Zuckerberg renamed the company. They've burned over $50 billion on VR/AR since 2020. The cuts don't mean Meta is abandoning the metaverse — they're still shipping Quest hardware and Horizon Worlds. But the strategic priority has visibly shifted. AI headcount is growing while metaverse headcount is shrinking. The message to employees is clear: if you're not working on AI, your position is less secu