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(Credit to Sven Hoppe/picture Alliance via Getty Images).
Many large tech companies increased their offerings and hired employees a bit too quickly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Some of these corporate giants have begun to lay off their workers in the wake of a contracting economy. Microsoft is not an exception.
Last week, Microsoft filed a new Securities and Exchange Commission filing revealing that it intends to layoff 10,000 employees. This is as Microsoft reassesses its future plans. The filing states that Microsoft Corporation informed its employees on January 18, 2023 of a series actions it was taking to respond to changing customer priorities and macroeconomic conditions. These actions include the reduction of approximately 10,000 employees by 2023's third quarter, changes to the hardware portfolio and consolidation of leases to increase density in our workspaces.
These cuts have already started. AltspaceVR, a virtual reality company Microsoft purchased in 2017, tweeted that it would close down on Friday. The entire team had been dismissed by Microsoft. Microsoft also dismissed its "Mixed Reality Tool Kit (MRTK), which was responsible for Unity's open-source mixed realities framework. MRTK was scheduled to be updated next month. Instead, it has been retired.
Microsoft's soon to be defunct HoloLens 2. (Credit: Microsoft)
Although MRTK was not compatible with VR systems geared towards consumers like SteamVR and Meta Quest, it was an integral part of Microsoft's HoloLens project. HoloLens is also suffering: Despite a $22 million deal with the US military Microsoft has lost faith in its AR goggles. This has made it virtually impossible to use. It's no surprise, then, that Microsoft–supposedly beholden to thousands of layoffs if it wants to survive–would ditch the goggles given the first opportunity.
Microsoft is showing a lack of faith in the "metaverse" by cutting its VR and MRTK staffs. This is not surprising. The metaverse could be described as the cryptocurrency of VR: it is exciting, useful and laughably unstable for most while being useful for a select few. Meta, which was unable to see the value in being part of the metaverse and decided to change its name to reflect this blind faith, laid off 11,000 employees in November.
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By: Adrianna Nine
Title: Microsoft Lays Off All Its VR, Mixed Reality, and HoloLens Employees
Sourced From: www.extremetech.com/electronics/342480-microsoft-lays-off-all-of-its-vr-mixed-reality-and-hololens-employees
Published Date: Mon, 23 Jan 2023 12:37:08 +0000
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