Microsoft laid off half the people working on one of its most important projects

Microsoft has laid off 30 employees who were working on HoloLens, the augmented reality headset, in Israel with 30 more being relocated within the company, Israeli news site Ynet reports.

In a statement, the company did not give a reason for the layoffs, describing it as a "shift of jobs across the organization." It's unclear where the 30 that remain will be relocated.

According to Ynet, an Israeli news website, the 60 jobs come from engineering. Those who were contract workers were laid off immediately with permanent employees given one month to find another job within the company.

HoloLens is a $3,000 (£1,900) augmented reality headset that runs Windows Holographic, a version of the company's operating system. Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella has emphasised the importance of the headset numerous times, describing it as a "category creation" device.

Business Insider has reached out to Microsoft to confirm the lay offs and what they mean for HoloLens. We will update the post when we hear back.