Meta is cutting more than 300 jobs in Washington state, with workers in Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond bracing for separation notices to start hitting on March 20. The bulk of the losses are coming out of the company’s Reality Labs division, and even remote staff based in Washington are caught up in the downsizing. Raw video posted by KIRO 7 shows early reactions as employees across the region processed the news.
Where The Cuts Will Land
State filings show Meta will permanently lay off about 331 employees in Washington state, with separations scheduled to begin March 20, according to FOX 13 Seattle. The notice lists offices in Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond and assigns roughly 105 job cuts to Redmond, about 89 to Bellevue and roughly 40 at the Dexter Avenue office in Seattle, plus nearly 100 remote employees in Washington, as reported by GeekWire.
Local Context
This is one of the first major tech layoff rounds of 2026 in the Seattle area and it adds to a broader pullback that has already pushed the Seattle–Tacoma–Bellevue jobless rate above the national average. Nearly 13,000 people were laid off in the metro area in 2025, and workforce officials warn the region will need retraining and placement help for senior technical staff, according to KUOW.
Why Meta Is Trimming Reality Labs
The Washington cuts are part of a larger January restructuring that eliminated roughly 1,500 Reality Labs roles as Meta reprioritized spending toward artificial intelligence and wearable hardware, per SFGATE. A Meta spokesperson told SFGATE the company is “shifting some of our investment from Metaverse toward Wearables,” and said savings from the layoffs will be reinvested to support the wearables push.
What Affected Workers Can Expect
Meta filed the notice under Washington’s worker notification rules and said affected employees were notified at least 60 days in advance and will continue to receive pay and benefits until their separation dates. Employees who are offered and accept other roles within Meta before March 20 will not be separated as part of this action, according to FOX 13 Seattle. The company also told state officials the cuts are not the result of outsourcing or moving operations and that eligible workers have been given information about benefits and transition support.
How To Get Help
Workers impacted by the notices are being urged to contact their HR teams, tap into state unemployment and retraining resources and watch for local job placement programs run by workforce partners in King County. KIRO 7’s coverage includes raw video and early reaction from affected sites and is expected to expand as the March 20 separation dates draw closer. Local WARN listings and state filings underpin the figures and details outlined in the reporting above.
