Digital Jobs: Working in The Metaverse

Having a digital job sounds crazy right? we know, but working in the Metaverse is now a reality. Let’s go down that rabbit hole!

There was a time where “the internet” was a foreign concept, where it was a buzzword that people thought would fade and life would carry on. But it didn’t. Instead, the internet grew. But we know this, of course. You’re reading this on the internet, after all. Now, not only is the internet part of everyday life, but it’s also expanding in new and exciting ways. 

One way, the latest exciting “buzzword”, is that of the Metaverse. The digital-meets-reality ecosystem. It seems a little far off at the moment, but also not so far we can’t imagine it and what might be available. So, in this, we’ll explore what the Metaverse is, what the career potentials are, and how we might see some pretty neat possibilities of working in the Metaverse.

Ready player one: entering the Metaverse

The briefest of history nuggets for you: The term “metaverse” was coined way back in 1992 in Neal Stephenson’s novel ‘Snow Crash’, which drew up the idea of a virtual world that individuals could experience with augmented reality technology. It’s basically a digital world that extends our analogue one and offers brand new opportunities for experience. It’s the cross-over between URL and IRL. And we’re starting to see it in play.

Virtual reality, for example, is becoming increasingly established as an entertainment device in Mr Layman’s house. The technology-driven setting immersing an individual in the designed environment represents the steady step towards the integration of digital in life. 

But it’s not just VR that’s deconstructing the divergence between digital and reality. We engage with these delightful line-blurrers on the daily.

Take social media filters as an example. We create them, use them, manipulate, tweak and broadcast a digital version of ourselves to the world. And it’s generating a surprising line of opportunity. Think about it, if an Instagram influencer can make a career out of content creation, the potential for skills and talents can be put to work diving deeper into the digital realm.

Going an extra level in: Adding the layer of blockchain

Looking further into the looking glass, the world of blockchain has already started exploring a blockchain-based Metaverse and there’s a wealth of opportunity for work involved. 

In the same way that the real world has a need for those behind fashion trends, we’re moving towards a future where there will be a salaried position for a designer of things purely digital. Internet architects designing digital spaces, community managers looking after online ecosystems. The possibilities are endless. These roles can all exist in the Metaverse and there are some pretty incredible benefits on the cards.

Project developments building virtual worlds

Let’s take a quick gander at exciting projects like Decentraland, which allows users to design, develop and explore a VR world together, there’s an amazing opportunity for experienced talent put to use in a fresh way. 

Then we’ve got Cryptovoxels where users can do all sorts of things like buy land, build stores, and create art galleries. 

The Sandbox is another blockchain-based community-centric space where artists can create and monetise art and experiences. The Sandbox is a pretty amazing ecosystem where users are empowered and enabled to create new experiences leveraging the platform’s potential. 

There’s a common theme to these projects: An online world, designed and run by the community with earning opportunities from all different creative angles. And those creative opportunities present the possibility of professional positions. Yep, you read that right: We’re talking about working in the Metaverse, a virtual job market.

Digging deeper – working in the metaverse 

You see, with the virtual world development coupled with the digital economy created by non-fungible tokens (NFTs), possibilities of working in the metaverse open up in an incredible way. As the world starts integrating this kind of new technology into the every day, there will be a need for skills in the space – opening opportunities for careers based in the virtual world. We hear you, you might be wondering what kind of careers and how this might work:

The important thing: there’s a digital economy

The project, built on Ethereum’s blockchain, has currency as part of its core. With cryptocurrency and NFTs integrated in the game, there’s an economy with money moving around. From there, users on the platform can make money buying and selling, creating art and items that can be used on the platform, and using their skills and talents to add value to the ecosystem.

Content creation

As a community-driven platform, there is a need for creation. Players create assets to be used in the game and these assets can be bought and traded. For example, creative roles on the platform are fashion designers to create digital attire for Avatars and house designers to design custom housing for where digital Avatars live. There’s plenty of creative opportunity available when the world is your online oyster.

Exploring the platform

Then there’s a sort of “digital discovery” component available. Imagine you’re new to a curated, fully fledged online ecosystem. You might have no idea where to start looking. Luckily, you can hire a Tour Guide to show you around, weaving story-telling into the history of the space, interesting insights, and key information about the platform while you are in the platform. Think of it like online tourism. It’s the type of position where those eloquent and excellent at anecdotes will thrive.

Transactional talents

A few years down the line and you’ve built your third online house, but you don’t really want to rent it to another user. No, it’s time to sell. But you’re not great at bargaining and you don’t want to get ripped off. That’s where the opportunity emerges. A virtual estate agent will act as a broker who will connect you to a buyer and make sure all parties leave content. You’ll sell your online house and the buyer will have a brand new virtual home to move on into.

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, if you want to learn more about the different job opportunities that might arise, check this out.

Working from “the office” from home

Another exciting thing about working in a purely digital industry is the remote-first approach most tech organisations tend to take. Over the past eighteen months, we’ve seen how virtual work and remote offices have not only increased time spent working (and not in traffic), but also the efficiency and effectiveness of work output. 

And in the Metaverse, we’re looking at the best of both worlds: The beauty of combining remote work with a collaborative “office” environment. You can log in, hang out at the virtual water cooler, chat with Tom from Finance, and then get back to your desk all from the comfort of your own home.

Working in the Metaverse: so, when are we diving in?

While there are still a couple of obstacles to overcome before we get to a place where the virtual job market is booming with possibilities, it’s likely that we’ll see the Metaverse mould itself slowly and somewhat seamlessly. 

As more online users get used to the deeper integration of tech in daily life, the more we’ll see the opportunities expand. In the same way the internet grew gradually, the development of the Metaverse will probably be transitionary, with the access to creation and jobs increasing as technology and culture evolve. 

Who knows though, in a few year’s time, our digital selves might just be reading this article from a digital newspaper looking at “historic” archives from the internet of old before flipping over to the virtual career page.

Knowledge is power