Technology companies WSJ: Microsoft has lost dozens of experts to Meta, which is tempting to develop a metaverse

Technology company About 100 people have already left Microsoft’s Augmented Reality Hololens development team over the past year. Most of them have joined Facebook’s parent company, Meta, he says The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) as a source for former Microsoft employees and Linkedin profiles of employees who have left the company.

According to former employees, members of the Hololens team have been lured into the ranks of competitors by, among other things, promises to double their pay. In total, about 1,500 people develop Hololence and augmented reality at Microsoft.

The competition between technology companies for experts is not new. The world’s largest companies want the best employees in the world. However, Meta’s actions are exceptionally fast and extensive. More than 40 of those who left the Microsoft Hololens team within a year are now on Meta’s payroll.

Facebook changed its name to Meta in the fall. Meta intends to focus on and invest significantly in the development of the new digital environment, the metaverse. The company said it will hire 10,000 new employees in Europe within five years.

According to WSJ, Meta has also attracted experts from its second competitor, Apple. According to Bloomberg, Apple has taken action to slow the brain drain.

Apple and Meta did not comment to WSJ. Microsoft comments that the company has been at the forefront of metaverse technology for years and plans to continue working in that field.

Microsoft was one of the first companies to actually invest in augmented reality, and Hololens was launched more than five years ago. Today, Hololens devices are among the most advanced smart glasses in the world. Microsoft’s Hololens customers are mainly companies and organizations.

In contrast, the Oculus glasses developed by Meta are the best-selling virtual reality glasses on the market with a market share of about 75 percent.

Big technology companies like Microsoft, Meta and Apple are all investing billions in augmented and virtual reality hardware and software to develop metaverse.