Facebook (NASDAQ:FB) plans to create 10,000 jobs in the European Union over the next five years in a push to build a digital world that it’s calling the "metaverse."
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.
Facebook Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg outlined his vision for a "metaverse" in July, saying the term refers to digital worlds in which multiple people can interact within a three-dimensional (3D) environment.
Facebook recently unveiled what it called its first step into the metaverse — a work collaboration app where people hold meetings in virtual reality. A number of other companies, including Microsoft, Roblox and Epic Games are investing heavily in their own versions of the metaverse.
News of the European hiring spree comes at a difficult time for Facebook. The company was the subject of a series of investigative reports by The Wall Street Journal which unveiled internal company research about the negative impact of its Instagram app on teenagers.
Also, earlier this month, Frances Haugen, a whistleblower who leaked the internal documents, testified at a U.S. congressional hearing. Haugen accused company leadership of putting "astronomical profits before people," a claim Zuckerberg subsequently dismissed.
Haugen and another Facebook whistleblower, Sophie Zhang, are due to testify before the British Parliament later this month.
