The Facebook revealed plans to hire 10.000 staff within the European Union over the next five years to help build the virtual world conceptmetaverse".
Facebook sees metaverse as the next step in website development that it believes will bring virtual reality and augmented reality to the general public.
At a time when hybrid work is expected to become the norm and big technology companies face competition from regulators for competition and privacy, Facebook is betting that its European recruitment effort will help it develop a "responsible" metaverse. .
"Metaverse has the ability to unlock access to new creative, social and economic opportunities. "And the Europeans will shape it from the beginning," Facebook told a blogpost.
"None company it will not own and operate the metaverse,” he continues. “Like the Internet, its core feature will be its openness and interoperability. Bringing this to life will require collaboration between companies, developers, creators and policy makers. For Facebook, it will also require continued investment in product and technology talent."
The company says it needs "highly skilled engineers" to bring the idea to life and that it will work with governments across the EU to draw on talent in an upcoming recruitment effort from each region.
Another reason for the EU talent search is that policymakers in Europe are trying to ensure that technological progress continues to align with European values such as freedom of expression, privacy and transparency.
Facebook announced in September that it would allocate $50 million to ensure that metaverse projects are developed responsibly. The funds were announced by Andrew Bosworth, Facebook's representative for virtual reality and Nick Clegg, the vice president of global affairs.
