Metaverse job postings decline as tech sector faces crunch

Job postings across all industries with “metaverse” in the title declined by 81% between April and June, raising questions about the nascent technology’s position as “the next big thing” in tech.

According to Revelio Labs, the number of “metaverse” job postings skyrocketed last year after Facebook rebranded as Meta and announced plans to go all in on immersive technologies.

But the crash in the value of cryptocurrencies, alongside a more general slowdown in the wider tech market, has slowed that momentum, leading to a fall in demand for VR talent.

Though the trend may worry metaverse advocates, it echoes wider issues for tech, with job postings in tech hubs like San Francisco and Austin, Texas, dropped 8.4% in the past four weeks, according to job site Indeed.

While Meta’s pivot into immersive saw it leading the way in jobs, it is consultancy Accenture who posted the most VR jobs since October 2021, with more than 1600 roles listed by the firm – three times that of Facebook’s parent company. Autodesk, Qualcomm and Apple round out the top five, according to Revelio’s study.

Accenture’s primary focus seems to be on metaverse roles in the design sector, with Graphic and Product Design roles leading the way. Meta, for comparison, is much more interested in recruiting product developers and researchers, based on its job listings.

Though Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg announced last week that the company is “slowing the pace” of long-term investments due to a revenue shortfall, the metaverse is still seen as key to Facebook’s future.

The Meta CEO told employees earlier this month that they were competing with Apple to determine “what direction the internet should go in”, according to a recording of his comments during an internal all-hands meeting obtained by The Verge.

“This is a competition of philosophies and ideas, where they believe that by doing everything themselves and tightly integrating that they build a better consumer experience,” Zuckerberg said of the brooding rivalry. “And we believe that there is a lot to be done in specialisation across different companies, and [that] will allow a much larger ecosystem to exist.”

Apple has been coyer on its plans to tackle the metaverse, with rumours abound that the iPhone-maker plans to launch a virtual or augmented reality headset. Respected Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo has said Apple’s mixed reality will likely launch at the beginning of next year.