Facebook has announced plans to hire 10,000 people within the European Union over the next five years to help build a ‘metaverse’, a new concept of a digital world, where people can use different devices to move and communicate in a virtual environment.
The investment, the company said on Monday, is a statement of confidence in the European tech industry’s strength and the promise of European tech talent.
According to Facebook, ‘no single business will own or run the ‘metaverse’, which will be characterised by openness and interoperability similar to the internet. The creation of the new concept will involve collaboration and coordination among firms, developers, artists, and legislators.
Europeans will shape the metaverse from the outset. The business intends to employ people from Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, and Ireland, according to reports’.
From the thousands of workers in the EU to the millions of companies that use Facebook’s applications and tools on a daily basis, Europe is critical to the company’s success. The EU offers a lot business benefits, including access to a huge consumer market, world-class colleges, and top-notch talent.
In September, the internet tech announced a $50 million investment in the metaverse, with early investors including Roblox Corp. and Epic Games, the creators of Fortnight.
The news comes as the social media giant seeks to recover from a catastrophic incident in which a whistleblower claimed that the firm was aware that its other platform product, Instagram, was severely impacting young people’s mental health but did nothing to stop it.