IQiyi’s VR Unit Fails to Pay Staff, Slashes Jobs as Metaverse Hype Fades

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A visitor tries out an iQiyi VR device on May 17 at the China International Consumer Electronics Exposition in Qingdao, East China’s Shandong province. Photo: VCG

IQiyi Smart, the virtual reality (VR) equipment arm of streaming platform iQiyi Inc., has been delaying salary payments and laying off employees, sources told Caixin, as the startup struggles financially in a sector that has yet to see mainstream adoption.

Employees haven’t been receiving their full wages since March, with some months seeing no salary payments at all, several staff members told Caixin. The company has also undergone several rounds of downsizing in the past six months, with headcount dropping below 100 as layoffs within some departments reached up to 50%, the sources said.