Rarely has a term gained such widespread traction in such a short time: the metaverse is on everyone’s lips, appearing in every marketing brief and startup pitch, and even in the speeches of candidates in the last presidential election, such as Emmanuel Macron and Marine Le Pen. A leading marketing trend and a fundamental revolution in how we envision the future of the web, the “metaverse” sparks curiosity, enthusiasm, and skepticism. But despite those who dismiss it as mere hype, all the ingredients seem to be in place for the metaverse to become a reality, starting with its uses and investments, creating numerous job opportunities, many of which are yet to be invented. Let’s explore these promising career paths with Ridouan Abagri, Co-founder and CEO of Digital College and its new school, Metaverse College.
Is the metaverse the new frontier of digital technology?
On average, a French person spends eight hours a day in front of an internet-connected screen, enjoying series or video games, chatting with friends, family, or strangers, but also shopping or working. The use of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) headsets—concepts increasingly conflated under the term mixed reality (XR) or extended reality—will grow as the supply increases and prices decrease. HTC, Sony, Samsung, Oculus (Meta), and soon Apple… all these companies offer headsets, most of which are less expensive than a good mid-range smartphone. On the investment front, MetaTrader has indicated that it has already dedicated $10 billion to the development of its immersive platform, Horizon World, which has attracted 300,000 users since its launch in late 2021. A player like Epic Games, the studio behind Fortnite and the Unreal Engine graphics engine, has already raised over $3 billion, including $2 billion from Sony and $1 billion from Lego, to develop its own platform with these partners. Finally, other players are betting on decentralization as the foundation of the immersive web and see blockchain technology as the means to make platforms interoperable. They are part of the development of Web 3.0, as opposed to the Web 2.0 giants known as GAFAM. In this economy, value is exchanged using crypto-assets such as cryptocurrencies or NFTs. In recent years, there has been the advent of digital technology, social networks, and the collaborative economy. We are now at the dawn of the advent of Web3 and the metaverse,” adds Ridouan Abagri, Co-founder and CEO of the Digital College, as well as the Metaverse College, which will open its doors in the fall of 2022, based on the observation that Meta promises the creation of 10,000 jobs in Europe for its metaverse activity in the coming years. Citing a study reported by Pôle Emploi, he adds: “85% of the jobs that will be filled in 2030 do not yet exist. It is therefore quite difficult to anticipate these developments. Nevertheless, some of these future jobs are already being sought by the players who are currently building the metaverse, starting with Meta, and indicate to us which skills and tools need to be mastered in this sector, which is constantly evolving but which, in the future, will be as essential as the Web or social networks are today.
What will the future jobs of the metaverse be?
That said, what skills need to be developed to work in these future immersive worlds? What training is required? What tools must be mastered? “If we start with the in-demand jobs I mentioned earlier, we can cite, in particular, digital audio workstation (DAW) software, mastery of blockchain-specific languages, programmatic development, and 2D/3D interface design with Unity or Unreal Engine. But the jobs of the metaverse also represent a huge ecosystem, with new professions linked to sectors disrupted by this new tool. Opportunities will include: XR developer, financial or blockchain consultant, data architect, 3D graphic designer, meta designer, AI engineer, and many more,” explains the Managing Director of the Digital College.
AR/VR Architects, Designers, nd Graphic Designers
Of course, the first jobs that come to mind are those directly related to digital technology and video games as we know them today. Just as web/UX/UI designers create the websites that internet users visit, professionals will design the spaces and experiences accessible within the immersive environments of the metaverse. Many video game-related professions will also be involved: game designers, programmers, 3D modelers, and artificial intelligence experts, in order to artificially generate large-scale universes, animate artificial characters, virtual influencers, or even avatars of stars reproduced through morphing. AR/VR/XR developers will collaborate with architects and designers tasked with recreating or inventing the buildings and objects that will populate these immersive environments, while new professions will emerge, such as that of “digital fashion designer,” responsible for creating the clothing and fashion accessories worn by users’ avatars. On social media, virtual fashion is already central to the offerings of companies like DressX, Replicant, and Tribute.
Blockchain and NFT specialists
One of the challenges of the metaverse is being able to retrieve one’s avatar, clothing, and all of one’s possessions from one platform to another. Many are relying on blockchain technology to make this interoperability possible, and more specifically on NFTs, which are “certificates of ownership.” These NFTs establish the concept of digital scarcity and take the form of unique entries linked to the owner’s wallet, which also serves as a unique identifier for accessing different platforms. More broadly, cryptocurrencies will enable the transfer of value and reward users for their actions on platforms, particularly within the framework of ” play-to-earn ” or ” learn-to-earn ” concepts. The metaverse should therefore lead to the development of specialized cryptography professions, as well as the development of blockchain and smart contracts —tamper-proof programs that execute automatically when the conditions are met on the blockchain. These are used, in particular, to manage decentralized finance applications, but also to create, for example, time capsules, loyalty programs, and wills.
Will all professions eventually have a version 3.0?
Once the metaverse is installed and browsed by users, people will need to be employed to sell NFTs, generate traffic in virtual stores, answer customer questions, animate communities on Discord and organize virtual events, guarantee brands “brand safe” environments, collect and analyze user data, insure their assets against hacks, offer them loans or ways to grow their “meta-wealth ,r manage their estate and protect their rights. Traditional professions in sales, marketing, and customer relations, as well as professionals in project management, event planning, cybersecurity, finance and accounting, and law, will all be involved and will be able to perform innovative and varied roles such as “smart contract lawyer,” a lawyer specializing in blockchain, a “digital asset executor,” or even a “metaverse event director.” But in the metaverse, some professions could be very different from their Web 1.0 or Web 2.0 equivalents: a wealth manager, for example, could grow their clients’ assets by playing play-to-earn ” games or by renting those assets to other users! One crucial question remains: What salary levels can these metaverse specialists expect? “The diversity of Web3 jobs is such that salary ranges are enormous. Initially, candidates with metaverse skills will be sought after by numerous companies, and their salaries will skyrocket, as was the case with the digitalization of our society, until they eventually stabilize at a rather high average, exceeding the median salary. For example, a junior XR developer could earn €36,000 annually in the favorable environment for this new technology, while more experienced developers could earn up to €70,000 annually, working on a major digital transformation project,” explains Ridouann Abagri, convinced that the need for these skills will grow in the coming years. This is what is driving an organization like Digital College to launch a new dedicated program, the Metaverse College, this coming fall.