Facebook to Hire 10,000 in Europe to Build ‘Metaverse’

Facebook announced intentions to hire 10,000 people in the European Union over the next 5 years to work on a new computing platform that promises to connect people virtually, but might raise privacy issues with the social platform having more influence over people’s online life. Those high-skilled people will help construct the metaverse, a futuristic concept for connecting online that incorporates augmented and virtual reality, according to the firm in a blog post published on Sunday.

The metaverse has been touted by Facebook executives as the next big thing after mobile internet, despite their track record in anticipating future trends. CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s predictions of taking virtual holidays with faraway loved ones via a headset or utilising a smartphone camera to digitally remodel an abode 4 years ago have not come true. Antitrust investigations, the testimony of a whistleblowing former employee, and worries about how it handles vaccine-related and political misinformation are all on the table for the corporation.

According to a blog post by Nick Clegg, vice president of global affairs, and Javier Olivan, vice president of central products, “as we begin the path of bringing the metaverse to life, the need for highly specialised engineers is one of Facebook’s most important needs.” For the hiring push, Facebook’s recruiters are focusing on Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands, and Ireland. The social network isn’t the only one working on the metaverse, and Facebook has stated that it will not be owned and operated by a single corporation. However, there are concerns that Facebook and a few other Silicon Valley behemoths may monopolise the metaverse.