The American social networking giant makes the bet of a digital world that would offer new opportunities, and counts for the most qualified European engineers.
Le Monde with AFP
Facebook plans to hire 10,000 people within five years in the European Union to work on the “metackers”, the digital parallel world which is the Grail of Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and boss of the American giant social networks. “This investment is a vote of confidence in the strength of the European technology industry and the potential of European technological talents” indicated Monday, October 18 in an article of blog the British Nick Clegg and Spanish Javier Olivan, two of the highest responsible for the group who now has more than 63,000 employees.
No specific details are given on countries where future jobs are located, nor on the type of jobs concerned. “The need for highly specialized engineers is one of the most urgent priorities of Facebook,” they just emphasize.
The “metavers” contraction (“metaverse” in English), is a kind of digital lining of the physical world, accessible via the Internet. Thanks in particular to virtual and enhanced reality, it should make it possible to demultipulate human interactions, releasing them physical constraints, via the Internet. For example, it could offer the possibility of dancing in a nightclub with people located thousands of kilometers, but also to buy or sell digital goods or services, many of which are still invented.
“The feeling of really being there”
“The essential quality of metackers will be the presence – the feeling of really being there with people,” explained Mark Zuckerberg in July on his Facebook profile. It’s not just a question of creating “a great great experience”, but also “an economic wave that could create opportunities for people around the world,” he also explained in a video interview at the Vivatech show in June.
Facebook announcement occurs in a tense context for California, which needs to restore its coat of arms while it is regularly accused of ignoring the negative social impacts of its activities. The last Salve came in early October of the Frances Haugen Alert launcher, a former Facebook employee, who accuses the American group to push adolescents to always use his platforms, at the risk of provoking an addiction.
In their message, Nick Clegg and Javier Olivan pay a tribute based on the role played by Europe in the regulation against excess Internet. “European decision-makers pave the way by helping to integrate European values such as freedom of expression, privacy, transparency and rights of individuals in the daily functioning of the Internet,” they highlight.
No business will have the “metapes”
They also repeat that Facebook does not look with the “metapes” to build a new closed universe, like its social network. “No business will own or exploit the metals,” they say. “As the Internet, its main feature will be its opening and interoperability. To give it life, collaboration and cooperation will be needed between companies, developers, creators and policy makers,” they believe.
Facebook is already one of the world’s leading virtual reality with its Oculus helmet, from the company of the same name redeemed in 2014 for $ 2 billion. In September, Facebook announced that he had appointed Technological Director Andrew Bosworth, leader of Facebook Reality Labs and as such one of his specialists from “metackers”.
The American giant is not the only one to bet on this virtual world. Epic Games, the company behind Fortnite, said that part of the billion dollars lifted this year with institutional investors, including Sony, would be devoted to “metackers”. On DECENTRALAND, an online platform considered as one of the precursors of “metackers”, it is now possible to pick up a croupier job in a virtual casino.