What is the Future of Work in the Metaverse?

The metaverse has gained a lot of traction lately. These virtual, collaborative spaces promise to change art, gaming, music and everyday interactions, but their potential goes beyond entertainment. The metaverse could reshape the way we work.

While entertainment may dominate conversations about this technology, 52% of internet users say new work possibilities would be what convinces them to join the metaverse. Here’s a closer look at what those possibilities could be.

Taking Remote Collaboration to the Next Level

One of the biggest business opportunities for the metaverse is how it could improve remote work. Virtual collaboration is already taking over workspaces, with more than 150,000 companies using digital headquarters platforms. The metaverse could take this to the next level, bringing remote teams closer than ever before.

Remote employees could use virtual reality (VR) and similar technologies to meet in virtual offices. They could then talk and work together as if they were in the same building despite being miles apart. While the underlying concept may be the same as today’s remote work, it wouldn’t feel like there’s a computer screen separating coworkers.

By simulating face-to-face interactions, the metaverse could help remote teams be more engaged and communicative. Being in these virtual environments would also make it easier to separate work from your home life when working from home. 

Accelerating Professional Development

The metaverse could also make it easier to train for a job or learn new skills. These virtual worlds could let companies create interactive 3D models and presentations to help new hires learn the ropes faster.

Early success stories in VR-based training highlight the potential for metaverse onboarding. H&R Block saw customer hold times drop by 50% thanks to recruits learning key skills faster through VR. Studies reaffirm this, showing that VR learners learn four times faster than employees in a classroom setting.

In the metaverse, companies could use these engaging, interactive experiences to streamline the onboarding process. Similarly, employees could use them for professional development, gaining new skills and broadening their career possibilities faster.

Creating New Professions

As more businesses move to the metaverse, entirely new fields of work could emerge. When sites like Facebook and Twitter took off, job postings for social media managers grew more than 1,000% in ten years. A similar phenomenon could happen with the metaverse.

If the metaverse becomes anywhere close to the global force that social media and other digital platforms have, it will create new employment possibilities. Specialists who know understand metaverse trends and how to capitalize on these technologies could become see surging demand. Fields that previously didn’t exist could provide vast opportunities for job seekers.

Challenges of Work in the Metaverse

While the metaverse holds plenty of potential for the future of work, it comes with some challenges, too. Bridging the gap between the digital and the physical raises concerns about surveillance. When all of your work is in a shared digital space, it’s easier to track all of your behavior. Companies could over-monitor their employees, breaching their privacy.

As more work moves to the metaverse, it may also lead to people spending too much time in these digital spaces. Studies show that excess screen time has negative health consequences, including increased depression and anxiety. Being in a fully immersive digital world for extended periods could take these effects further, leading to more mental health concerns.

There are also technological barriers. VR tech right now is expensive and limited, so it’ll have to become more accessible and versatile for companies to use it more extensively, especially for remote workers.

Obstacles Remain, But the Metaverse Could Reshape Work

The metaverse is still in its early stages, so much of how it’ll play out is still uncertain. However, if businesses and metaverse developers can address these challenges and capitalize on the technology, it could open new doors for workers. Work as we know it could forever shift the way it did when social media came onto the scene.