Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) is reportedly losing members of its augmented reality team, including to the tech giant Meta Platforms Inc. (Nasdaq: FB), which is expanding its presence in the Seattle area.
The Wall Street Journal reported Monday that 100 members of the HoloLens division, which employs about 1,500 people, have left over the past year, according to former employees. Based on testimony and online job profiles like LinkedIn, over 40 of them have joined Meta. The company formerly known as Facebook has fully leaned into extended reality platforms as it makes its push into the metaverse.
Defectors have joined divisions like Meta's Reality Labs, and the Oculus teams within it, according to LinkedIn profiles.
Meta declined to comment on recruiting techniques, and Microsoft said attrition on these teams is a regular challenge.
Competition is fierce among most of the major tech companies. At the end of December, Apple reportedly boosted stock bonuses for engineers to keep recruiters at bay.
Meta's extended reality footprint is just as vast in the Puget Sound region as its overall footprint is. The company boasts more than 3 million square feet of office space between Seattle, Bellevue and Redmond, and 7,000 employees between the three cities. It's also looking to hire 900 more.
The company has employees on its remote presence and messenger teams in Seattle's Westlake neighborhood, Oculus employees in Seattle's Sodo area and Redmond, and other Reality Labs employees spread throughout Seattle and the Eastside.
