Layoffs At Microsoft Reportedly Hit VR And Metaverse Teams

Things have not been going well for the tech industry and many companies have been laying off their staff.

Microsoft has also joined the list, as the tech giant announced that 10,000 jobs would be cut this year and reports indicate that the latest round of layoffs is targeting the metaverse and virtual reality teams.

There are two projects that the company is expected to shut down in these areas, which are Mixed Reality Tool Kit and Altspacevr, which could potentially affect the company’s progress in these areas.

Layoffs

The announcement for the layoffs came from Microsoft on January 18th and recent reports have shown that the virtual reality (VR) and metaverse initiatives have taken a hit in this regard.

Microsoft had declared that 5% of its workforce would be laid off, which means 10,000 jobs in total and the teams running the two projects mentioned above will be part of this reorganization process.

Microsoft acquired Altspacevr back in 2017 and it had already announced that its platform would be shut down on March 10th.

The purpose of the platform was to provide services that would help in creating virtual environments for events, thereby including the participation of businesses, brands, creators, and artists.

It is now expected to migrate to a platform more focused on work named Mesh, which is already integrated with Microsoft Teams.

As far as the Mixed Reality Tool Kit is concerned, it is part of the metaverse department because it comes in handy for building interfaces, but it is expected to be abandoned.

This is because there had not been any announcement about new teams being assigned for its development.

Slowdown

The layoffs by Microsoft had been justified as a way of aligning its cost structure with customer demand and revenue.

However, some are of the opinion that since the layoffs are localized in the metaverse and the VR sector, it indicates that the company is shifting its focus from advancement in these areas.

It should be noted that most of the layoffs that Microsoft is carrying out are related to initiatives that focus on primarily the consumer metaverse.

Meta has taken the same route, as the Facebook owner laid off 13% of its staff, which saw 11,000 jobs being cut.

Believers

Nonetheless, it is important to note that some of the higher-ups at Microsoft believe in the potential of the metaverse and other similar technologies, considering them part of the future.

The chief executive of the company, Satya Nadella, said recently that metaverse tech is capable of bringing a game-changing sense of presence.

It should also be noted that Microsoft is also a part of the development of the Global Collaboration Village, which is the metaverse world that the World Economic Forum (WEF) is developing.

Moreover, the company has also shown its interest in making investments in projects related to artificial intelligence (AI), such as OpenAI, the company behind the controversial AI bot known as ChatGPT.