Facebook plans to hire 10,000 people in the EU over the next five years, the social media giant said on Monday, to help build the so-called metaverse — a nascent online world where people exist and communicate in shared virtual spaces.
This would be a significant step the company is taking towards the concept, something top boss Mark Zuckerberg has touted in recent months.
In September, Facebook committed $50m towards building the metaverse, where companies such as Fortnite maker Epic Games have an early foothold.
The company earlier launched a test of a new virtual-reality remote work app where users of the company’s Oculus Quest 2 headsets can hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves.
Facebook also said in July it was creating a product team to work on the metaverse which would be part of Facebook RealityLabs, its augmented reality and virtual reality group.
“This investment (in new jobs) is a vote of confidence in the strength of the European tech industry and the potential of European tech talent,” the company said.
“Europe is hugely important to Facebook.”
– Reuters
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