Meta to Sunset Workplace by June 2026

• Meta has announced its plans to shut down its work-focused social network completely, Workplace, after ten years by June 2026.
• The primary driver of this decision is tough competition from other platforms and its focus on artificial intelligence.
• This article covers the announcement in detail.

Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Threads, and WhatsApp, has announced that it is shutting down Workplace, a work-focused social network. The company said it will permanently take down the platform by June 1, 2026. Meta developed Workplace as a competitor to platforms such as Microsoft Teams and Slack.

In a memo to the platform’s customers, the company said, “Today, we’re sharing that we’ve made the difficult decision to close Workplace from Meta in 2026. We understand that this decision will be disruptive to the businesses, organizations and partners that rely on Workplace every day. Our priority is to make the transition as smooth as possible.”

The company plans to sunset the platform in phases. It will be business as usual till August 31, 2025. From September 1, 2025, till May 31, 2026, Workplace will become free of charge. It will also be available only to read and download existing data. After this, access to the platform will be terminated, and Workplace instances will be deleted.

Meta has suggested Workvivo by Zoom as a migration-ready alternative to its Workplace customers.

Source: Meta Launches New Custom Artificial Intelligence Chip

Meta’s Move a Result of Tough Competition and Shifting Focus?

Meta’s announcement marks the end of a ten-year-old product. The company had big plans to bring a differentiated revenue stream to Facebook and called Workplace a “strategic asset” during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, it looks like the company is finding it challenging to compete with platforms like Slack and Microsoft Teams. The product also didn’t recover after the pandemic, as more people returned to offices, and the bubble for a crowded space for remote working tools popped. Further, a few key resources working on the product quit over time.

Besides these reasons, Meta wants to focus on building artificial intelligence (AI) and metaverse technologies. A Meta source told TechCrunch, “We are discontinuing Workplace from Meta so we can focus on building AI and metaverse technologies that we believe will fundamentally reshape the way we work.” This could mean a few other reorganizations over time.

It is not yet clear how many employees will be affected by Meta’s plan to shut down Workplace.

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