In order to build a so-called metaverse, Facebook plans to recruit 10,000 individuals in the European Union.
A metaverse is a virtual world where individuals may play games, work, and interact using virtual reality headsets.
Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, has been a major proponent of the idea.
The announcement comes as Facebook struggles to recover from a devastating scandal and faces growing calls for legislation to limit its power.
“The metaverse has the potential to open up new creative, social, and economic possibilities. And it will be shaped by Europeans from the start “In a blog post, Facebook stated.
“Highly specialized engineers” will be among the new occupations produced during the next five years.
According to Facebook, investing in the EU provided several benefits, including access to a huge consumer market, world-class colleges, and high-quality talent.
One of Facebook’s top goals is the creation of the metaverse.
Despite a history of acquiring competitors, Facebook argues that the metaverse “will not be constructed overnight by a single business” and has pledged to collaborate.
It recently funded $50 million (£36.3 million) in non-profit organizations to assist “responsibly create the metaverse.”
However, it believes that the genuine metaverse concept will take another 10 to 15 years to develop.
Some opponents believe the company’s current announcement is intended to repair its reputation and distract attention away from a slew of devastating incidents in recent months.
Whistleblower Frances Haugen, who worked as a product manager on Facebook’s civic integrity team, revealed some of this.
According to Facebook’s own study, Instagram, which it owns, has a negative impact on teens’ mental health. When it was claimed that Facebook was a “toxic” environment for many teenagers, Facebook did not publish its findings.