Facebook Inc. plans to create 10,000 jobs in the European Union over the next five years, the social media giant said on Monday, to help build its digital world know as the ‘metaverse‘, according to CNBC.
The social media giant said it would hire high-skilled engineers in countries across the bloc. The company is focusing its recruitment drive on Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Ireland.
“Europe is hugely important to Facebook. From the thousands of employees in the EU, to the millions of businesses using our apps and tools every day, Europe is a big part of our success, as Facebook is in the success of European companies and the wider economy,” said Nick Clegg, Facebook’s head of global affairs and Javier Olivan, vice president of central products in a blog post on Sunday.
“As we begin the journey of bringing the metaverse to life, the need for highly specialized engineers is one of Facebook’s most pressing priorities,” added Clegg and Olivan.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision for a metaverse in July. The metaverse is a term used to describe digital worlds in which multiple people can interact within a 3D environment.
A number of other companies, including Microsoft, Roblox and Epic Games are investing heavily in their own versions of the metaverse.
“We look forward to working with governments across the EU to find the right people and the right markets to take this forward, as part of an upcoming recruitment drive across the region,” added Clegg and Olivan.