XR Accounts For Almost 20% of Facebook’s Workforce

Facebook Reality Labs growing at an unprecedented pace in 2021

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Virtual RealityInsights

Published: March 19, 2021

John Woods XR Today

John Woods

New research informs us that around 20% of Facebook’s workforce now focuses on developing virtual reality and augmented reality technologies.

According to a recent data research report by The Information, as many as 10,000 people (almost one-fifth of all Facebook employees) now work for the company’s dedicated extended reality tech development project, Facebook Reality Labs – up from just 5% in 2017.

Rapidly Increasing XR Investments

Since acquiring Oculus for 2 Billion USD back in 2014, Facebook has made it clear how it believes virtual reality and augmented reality technologies will play a vital role in engaging with customers in the future – and this huge growth report confirms that belief.

In 2017, when Facebook launched its first edition of its PC-tethered Oculus Rift VR Headset, the total number of employees working at the company stood at just below 19,000.

Fast forward four years later, and the number of employees working in the Facebook Reality Labs division alone stands at 10,000 and counting, with its latest edition of standalone VR headsets, the Oculus Quest 2, earning more than 2X the revenue of Facebook Ads in Q4 2020.

Next Major Computing Platform

Considering all of the above, it’s not too difficult to determine why Facebook is rapidly increasing its VR and AR investments.

Alongside the obvious economic benefits that come from securing its place as a leader in the XR space, Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg has gone on record numerous times stating his belief that extended reality technologies will eventually become the “next major computing platform.”

Though we’ve yet to see the company’s biggest rivals Apple enter the XR hardware marketplace in full, as it stands, Facebook is leading the charge on this new frontier, with its nearest competition barely visible in the rear-view mirror.

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