Interest in jobs related to the metaverse has surged more than ten-fold in the past six months, showing that the once barely-known concept is now very much in the radar of the workforce and companies, a new study from Bankless Times showed.
The 938 per cent spike in searches, as shown on Google Trends, reinforces the growing career opportunities and the efforts being made by companies, both of whom are in a race to position themselves in what is seen to be a key component of the next iteration of the World Wide Web, the Canada-based media company said.
Major industry news have contributed to the rise in interest. The first noticeable surge happened in October when Facebook announced it was rebranding itself into Meta platforms, triggering metaverse job searches to rise to almost 60 on Google's popularity scale.
It went full throttle in January after Microsoft announced it was acquiring video game studio Activision Blizzard for $68.7 billion, resulting in the maximum 100 popularity score.
“We are already seeing an entire industry develop around the idea of the metaverse, with everyone from big brands to indie gaming studios trying to secure their spot or building their own,” Hugo Feiler, chief executive and co-founder at blockchain network Minima, said in the study.
“We will see the creation of new jobs we haven’t even envisioned yet.”
The metaverse is the emerging digital space in which people, represented by avatars or three-dimensional likenesses, can interact in virtual worlds. It is part of Web3, the next evolution of the web, with blockchain, decentralisation, openness and greater user utility among its core components.
The global metaverse industry was valued at $47.69bn in 2020 and is projected to hit $828.95bn in 2028, growing at a compound annual rate of 43.3 per cent, according to Emergen Research.
Earlier this year, global consultancy McKinsey said in a report that 23 per cent of the jobs that will be made available on the market in 2022 will be new to us.
The Bankless Times report showed the most searches originated from the US, followed by the UK and Canada. India and Turkey were next, countries with high interest in cryptocurrencies, another vital component of Web3, it added.
Younger generations – who are more immersed with newer technologies – are more likely to lean towards metaverse jobs, it said, quoting a recent Microsoft study.
About half of Generation Z, those born between the late 1990s and early 2010s, and millennials, those born between the early 1980s and mid-1990s, see themselves partly working in the metaverse in the near future, the survey of more than 31,000 people showed.
Only about 40 per cent of Generation X and a third of baby boomers, those born between the 1940s and 1980s, showed interest, it added.
Bankless Times said future jobs will have two broad areas – the new ones to be created for the design, building and maintenance of the metaverse, and those for existing jobs – such as marketers, legal personnel, customer service agents and retailers – who will begin incorporating the technology into their organisations and working lives.
Indeed, metaverse jobs are being listed for familiar roles, but will entail a different dynamic and strategy. On TheMetaverseJobs.com, a site listing vacancies for the sector, companies are looking for candidates to fill in roles for anything from marketing, sales, operations and engineering to work in related technologies, including cryptocurrencies, blockchain, avatars and virtual worlds.
Mr Feiler is bullish on the metaverse job market’s overall potential, albeit he argues there is still a long way to go before society fully understands the concept.
“The metaverse can span the digital and real world in beneficial ways … it has the potential to empower individuals to curate their own experiences, a lot more than we can in digital worlds today,” he said.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Pearls on a Branch: Oral Tales
Najlaa Khoury, Archipelago Books
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
What is a black hole?
1. Black holes are objects whose gravity is so strong not even light can escape their pull
2. They can be created when massive stars collapse under their own weight
3. Large black holes can also be formed when smaller ones collide and merge
4. The biggest black holes lurk at the centre of many galaxies, including our own
5. Astronomers believe that when the universe was very young, black holes affected how galaxies formed
UK-EU trade at a glance
EU fishing vessels guaranteed access to UK waters for 12 years
Co-operation on security initiatives and procurement of defence products
Youth experience scheme to work, study or volunteer in UK and EU countries
Smoother border management with use of e-gates
Cutting red tape on import and export of food
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD)
What is THAAD?
It is considered to be the US' most superior missile defence system.
Production:
It was first created in 2008.
Speed:
THAAD missiles can travel at over Mach 8, so fast that it is hypersonic.
Abilities:
THAAD is designed to take out projectiles, namely ballistic missiles, as they are on their downward trajectory towards their target, otherwise known as the "terminal phase".
Purpose:
To protect high-value strategic sites, such as airfields or population centres.
Range:
THAAD can target projectiles both inside and outside of the Earth's atmosphere, at an altitude of 93 miles above the Earth's surface.
Creators:
Lockheed Martin was originally granted the contract to develop the system in 1992. Defence company Raytheon sub-contracts to develop other major parts of the system, such as ground-based radar.
UAE and THAAD:
In 2011, the UAE became the first country outside of the US to buy two THAAD missile defence systems. It then deployed them in 2016, becoming the first Gulf country to do so.
The biog
Simon Nadim has completed 7,000 dives.
The hardest dive in the UAE is the German U-boat 110m down off the Fujairah coast.
As a child, he loved the documentaries of Jacques Cousteau
He also led a team that discovered the long-lost portion of the Ines oil tanker.
If you are interested in diving, he runs the XR Hub Dive Centre in Fujairah
