March 25 (Reuters) - Meta Platforms ( META ) will lay

off a few hundred people across its Reality Labs division,

social media teams and recruiting operations on Wednesday, The

Information reported, citing two people familiar with the

matter.

Reuters reported earlier this month that Meta was planning

sweeping layoffs that could affect 20% or more of the company's

workforce and that top executives had signaled the plans to

other senior leaders and told them to begin planning how to pare

back.

The cuts reported on Wednesday, which affects only a tiny

portion of the company's overall workforce, will also impact a

smaller number of employees in its sales unit, The Information

report said.

The Facebook parent is seeking to offset rising costs tied

to massive investments in artificial intelligence, having

forecast total expenses of $162 billion to $169 billion in 2026,

and rising employee compensation as the company spends millions

to hire top AI talent.

Meta had nearly 79,000 employees as of December 31,

according to its annual filing.