Here was the news with VRChat in June 2024:
In brutal news for VRChat employees, 30% were laid off late yesterday -- though fortunately, with generous severance packages. In a refreshingly honest email to staff, co-founder/CEO Graham Gaylor puts the blame on himself, saying he over-hired while also taking too long to add management, making it difficult for the startup to reach profitability before they run out of funding...
With these layoffs, VRChat will now have the breathing room to achieve profitability. As I mentioned to one staffer last night, this reminds me of the time early on when Linden Lab also laid off 30% of its staff -- and then soon saw Second Life take off like a rocket.
In all honesty, I wrote that last sentence hoping it wasn't just over-optimistic pro-metaverse spin.
But now in June 2025, here's the news from Chandra Janakiraman, the Meta / Zynga veteran who took on the Chief Product Officer role for the company shortly before the layoffs:
We are hiring across a range of functions & positions. It's an exciting time to join us, as we write the next chapter of immersive social connection at scale!
Here's the current job listings, with 10 roles on display, including Avatar Marketplace Content Reviewer, to help grow that new feature which also went live this month, and Director of Product, New Audiences:
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