> The position is in Europe & more towards their VR/AR stuff. I'm very glad that I passed it, but my current concern about it is how reliable this job offer is.
Their VR/AR stuff is... not doing great, to say the least.
https://i.imgur.com/mwSGJ4w.png
Joining that division does seem like boarding an already sinking ship.
Meta's Reality Labs arm operates at a loss currently. Meta have yet to bring to market a product or service, from ideation to launch, that has garnered any degree of positive reception or reach.
Yes, there's the Oculus line (now Meta Quest), but this was an acquired company and not indicative of Meta's own VR/AR initiatives. That they have continued to produce competitive products since the acquisition is a positive sign.
The dream for Meta appears to be to resurrect the golden era of social media in VR. To recreate the success of Facebook in a deeper interactive environment. They have the resources and the hardware but they are struggling to get people into their software. Horizon Worlds has launched fiarly quietly, struggled to maintain users, and been plagued by issues and controversy. If they can get it to succeed then they can monopolise a space where your every action can be turned into monetised ad data for companies to buy into and target. That's the goal.
As VR gets better, and VR environments improve, it feels logical that there will be a large social space online where people will spend large amounts of time. Whether that's Meta's Horizon Worlds or a competing space, or an open source solution, remains to be seen.
I'd use your personal intuition to gauge whether you think Meta are in this for the long haul (they've certainly committed hard to the goal) or whether they're realising they can't force the outcome they want by throwing money at it.
Defence work is always stable. If you can put aside your moral concerns (if you have them).