Due to a pandemic that quite fundamentally altered, by necessity, the way we work, the way we connect, and how we as individuals merge our work and personal lives, there’s no question change is not only possible, but unavoidable. If you had any hopes of getting back to “normal,” last autumn’s announcement of Meta, a new company brand for Facebook apps and technologies, should wake you from that dream. It’s time now to embrace that the metaverse will not just continue to shift how we work, but will also create new metaverse jobs.

New job possibilities in the metaverse

Emerging from this somewhat impromptu virtual way of living imposed on by the coronavirus, whether you’ve resolved never to return to a typical 9-to-5 or have dedicated yourself fully to remote working, we can all probably agree the old way is not coming back. And drumming this point home is the onset of the metaverse, an unrealized but increasingly inevitable new “new” way of working and interacting.

The metaverse will radically change existing jobs and create new ones. In one sense, the very nature of the metaverse and the ways in which technologies will be incorporated and expanded will enable jobs that previously demanded in-house presence—such as customer service—to be done remotely.

And of course the technology and our increasing reliance on it also creates the need for jobs that don’t currently exist in metaverse form. All of this change means virtual fertile ground for jobs and career trajectories that were unimaginable before. There’s endless space in the metaverse, and lots of opportunity. Here are some jobs you’ve never heard of that, by the year 2030, are predicted to be in demand.

1. Avatar clothing designers

Getting away from the pure technology, the real intrigue of the metaverse is the notion that we can exist there as avatars, going about our business in almost every sense as we can in our real worlds. So, who will dress us? Avatar clothing designers.

2. Data bounty hunters

Because in the metaverse data is everything, and you will want to ensure you have ownership of all of your data, there is a clear space for data bounty hunters—who will have the necessary legal and data mining expertise.

3. Metahuman doctors

Here’s where it gets super sci-fi. In theory, our biometric and physiological data will be tied to our avatars, making it feasible that medical professionals–combining “hard” digital sciences–can diagnose and actually run tests of potential treatments.

4. Metaverse construct architects

Interaction and mobility are key to the metaverse, and constructs—which are anything from a place, object, or experience—need to be developed to make the metaverse a reality.

5. Metaverse event directors

Events such as concerts and museum exhibits have already taken place with great result and participation via game environments like Fortnite, and this will only continue to grow in the metaverse. Event directors who specifically understand this new reality of event experience will be in high demand.

 

6. Metaverse research scientist

In the most simple terms, the metaverse is a digital replication of reality. That is no small thing. A metaverse research scientist will be essential to the metaverse technology. This will entail many skill sets, from software engineering, computer engineering, game development, data science, machine learning, computer vision, deep learning, and big data engineering. A research scientist is tasked with creating an architecture that adheres to the idea of everything.

7. Ecosystem developer

The ecosystem developer will have the task of scaling and bringing to life the possibilities of the metaverse. Ensuring the infrastructure is in place to enable to the technology and its users to interoperate will take strong lobbying efforts and a keen understanding of the XR industry. The ecosystem developer will be charged with persuading government to scale the various metaverse functionalities.

8. Metaverse safety manager

Privacy issues have always been synonymous with the internet. In the metaverse, the stakes could be even higher. Providing for safety and security will be a key element in how comfortable living and working in the metaverse, so this is a job that will be in high demand. In the complex world of the metaverse, security will be in the hands of the safety manager.

9. Metaverse hardware creator

The vision of the metaverse relies as much on hardware as it does on savvy coding. Headsets, cameras, sensors: These are the new tools we will all have to gradually adopt and adapt to, and someone needs to create them.

Metaverse and the world of work: key takeaways

Our work lives will all dramatically change in the virtual world known as the metaverse. If you organization waits too long to plan a metaverse strategy, it might be too late. That’s why it’s so important for companies to have a future skills plan and for individuals to reskill and upskill for the future. New changes and new opportunities are coming. Will you be ready?

 

10. World builder

Either the most fabulous or terrifying job title ever, a world builder in the metaverse will be similar to a video-game developer, but with more vague and potentially more high-stakes responsibilities. Future thinking is key here, as is considering the social impacts of what is possible to do in these worlds being built.

11. Ad-blockers

As virtual you and real you move about in your own closely connected spaces, you can rely on advertisers to target you and pester you senseless. Future metaverse ad-blockers will help thwart these annoyances.

The World of Work and the Metaverse

Many of the new jobs we will see emerge as the metaverse moves from concept to reality are the expected technical careers—coding and game design, for example–but others will merge into a new realm of what it means when our reality replicates itself virtually, when what we eat, shop, and wear blurs the avatar/human boundary. It’s in that space that previously and even currently unconsidered metaverse jobs will become viable career paths.