Facebook says it's hiring 10,000 people in Europe to help build Mark Zuckerberg's 'metaverse'

Facebook claimed it would create 10,000 jobs across Europe in five years to "metaverse."
The metaverse is a virtual space that theoretically allows people to access the internet.

Mark Zuckerberg stated this summer that he wanted Facebook to be a "metaverse" company.

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Facebook announced Monday that it will create 10,000 jobs in the European Union (EU), in line with CEO Mark Zuckerberg's vision for a "metaverse".

In July, Zuckerberg told The Verge that he wanted Facebook to become a "metaverse" company. Metaverse is a hypothetical virtual space in which people can access the internet. It could be virtual-reality, augmented-reality, or both.

Horizon Workrooms is the first concrete example of a Facebook metaverse-product. It was launched in August as a VR workspace for team meetings.

Facebook claimed that the EU jobs it creates will be highly skilled and include specialized engineering roles. Facebook shared a statement with Insider that stated, "This investment represents a vote in confidence in the strength and potential of European tech talent."

Insider was told by a spokesperson for Facebook that the company's recruiters will target countries such as Germany, France and Spain.

This announcement was made on the same day that Sophie Zhang, a whistleblower and former Facebook data scientist, was scheduled to testify before a UK parliament committee.

Frances Haugen is another whistleblower and will testify to the committee next Wednesday.