40 jobs you’ll soon be able to do in or out the Metaverse
There is now a good chance that you have heard of these famous metaverses, which will a priori revolutionize our daily lives by completely immersing us in extended reality environments. Far from taking sides on the validity or not of these innovations, this article considers with pragmatism that our society has taken the highway to go in this direction, and that we will now have to deal with it.
The rise of a new economy
Since Facebook’s became Meta at the end of 2021, the future is taking shape. Indeed, Meta plans to create the most ambitious metaverse in the world. The city of Seoul aims to build its own copy in a dedicated metaverse. Baidu has just announced massive investments for an operational metaverse in 2028. And of course, Sandbox, Decentraland and Roblox already occupy the field, both literally and figuratively.
In these new worlds, new social and economic realities will exist, and this will fully justify new professional activities, which will quickly become professions. The American gaming expert Jon Radoff proposed in November 2021 a structuring vision of the categories of professions likely to emerge, in connection with the metaverse and web 3.0. With a very conceptual approach, it describes well how jobs will take shape.
To go even further, I propose to list and describe in this article more than 40 professions that the metaverse is about to create. Some of these professions will seem obvious to you, while others will seem completely ridiculous or useless. But before judging too firmly, remember that toboggan tester or canine yoga teacher are real-world jobs, and that ultimately, there is no such thing as a stupid job.
Not all professions in the metaverse will require a systematic presence there. If the immersed professions, which we are going to cover now, will require an avatar exercising his activity, this will not necessarily be the case for the professions of organizers, designers or observers, which will be explored next.
NB: for each profession, I propose some skills (know-how and soft skills) and knowledge (knowledge and soft skills) a priori essential for the proper exercise of the profession. At this stage, these elements are purely indicative and will largely be clarified over time. Above all, each time, the list could be much longer, but you have to start somewhere!
THE IMMERSED
Immersed people will have jobs that will require a sustained presence in immersion. The activity that they will carry out through their avatar will be what allows them to earn their living. These people will spend as much or even more time in the metaverse than in the real world…
1 — Metaverse Realtor
In fact, this job is already official. With the arrival of real estate properties on Sandbox, Decentraland and Roblox, many are already owners. Whether it is to buy your future property in the right place and at the right price, or to sell it in the best conditions, the real estate agents of the metaverse are there!
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, General knowledge, History & Geography of metaverses, Communication, Sense of service.
3 — Metaverse Gardener
Many metaverses will reproduce neighborhoods with houses or buildings, but also gardens and parks, with trees, bushes and flowers. Metaverse gardeners will be responsible for ensuring the harmony of these virtual objects with their environment. No one would want a Fuchsia next to a West Point tulip!
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Knowledge of plants, Attention to detail, Aesthetic sense, Mastery of object bank.
4 — Metaverse Bodyguard
To prevent your avatar from being attacked by frenzied mobs or a malevolent avatar, you can hire the services of bodyguards from the metaverse. They may not master the martial arts, but they will have the means to keep dangers at bay. Don’t laugh, a complaint was already filed in December in the United States for virtual sexual harassment!
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Sense of observation, Communication, Collaboration, Firmness, Sense of service.
5 — Metaverse Policeman
Beyond the security financed by an individual or an organization to watch over an avatar, it is possible that municipalities collectively decide to set up security services to protect avatar citizens and virtual goods. We would then see the emergence of security agents, even metaverse police officers, equipped with means of sanctions.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Sense of observation, Communication, Collaboration, Firmness, Mastery of sanction tools.
6 — Metaverse Team Manager
If many avatars are busy with professional activities on behalf of organizations, it will be a question of ensuring adequate management of these avatars and their human counterparts. A bit like the team leaders of massively multi-player games (MMORPG), the metaverse will see team managers appear!
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Creativity, Decision-making, Sense of service.
7 — Metaverse Teacher
In December 2021, Stanford University held its first class in the metaverse. A shock exercise for the teacher, who had to adapt his methods and his posture to teach. With endless collaborative and creative possibilities, the metaverse promises to be the most powerful educational tool man has ever created. Not to mention that you will have to train to use it!
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Mastery of your specialty, Mastery of immersive tools, Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Creativity, and more.
8 — Mayor of the commune of the metaverse
The metaverses that will exist will be as many communities, with their own rules and dynamics. For each district or municipality, a representative capable of ensuring governance capable of satisfying the requirements of citizen avatars will be needed. Decentralization and participatory governance being at the heart of web 3.0, this job will be key!
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Decision-making, Sense of service.
9 — Metaverse Performer Artist
Last November, Justin Bieber gave a concert in the metaverse. He then became one of the first performers of the metaverse. Tomorrow, some will make it their profession, as singers, dancers or to perform any other dimension of the living arts. The possibilities for this profession are simply immense.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Creativity, Attention to detail, Stress management, Communication, Sense of observation.
10 — Metaverse Digital Artist
A digital artist creates 2D or 3D visuals using computer graphic design tools. Digital artists in the metaverse will do the same, but they will do it directly from the metaverse, creating directly in the space in which they find themselves. Note that these digital artists will also be able to create elements for the metaverse from the real world.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Creativity, Attention to detail, Mastery of immersive tools, Artistic sense, Mastery of design tools.
11 — Grapher in the metaverse
Will it be possible to tag walls or paint murals in the metaverse? In fact, it does not matter, because there will always be a need for artists to visually embellish an environment. The difference may lie in the effect on the owners of the land! Graphic designers and digital artists may or may not be the same profession, everything remains to be created.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Creativity, Attention to detail, Mastery of immersive tools, Artistic sense.
12 — Metaverse Photographer
If you’ve ever played The Sims, you might have already taken screenshots of your new Sims home or town. Maybe you could become a metaverse photographer! More seriously, this activity will quickly become an expertise in itself, to immortalize certain moments or places of the metaverses.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Creativity, Attention to detail, Mastery of immersive tools, Artistic sense.
13 — Metaverse Witness Client
If companies create service activities in metaverses, you can be sure that there will be an issue of testing the quality of these services. And perhaps this could give rise to the remuneration of fake customers, paid to evaluate the quality of the reception of a luxury establishment in the metaverse, or of some other prestigious experience.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Communication, Sense of detail, Sense of observation.
14 — Metaverse Influencer
If the metaverse attract large audiences, then these audiences will need inspiring models who live from our love, like on Instagram… To reassure you, tell yourself that there will be many influencers on the knowledge -living together, emotional intelligence or eco-responsibility.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Creativity, Communication, Sense of observation, Rigour, and a priori more.
15 — Metaverse Passive Income Collector
One element that you may have missed on the metaversic movement is the explosion of so-called ‘Play to earn’ games, which allow you to generate income from a few actions, or even several hours of games per day. Tomorrow, there are those who will be able to invest heavily to earn more, and those who will work to collect their income…
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Creativity, Sense of observation, Rigor, Communication, Mastery of Play to earn games.
ORGANIZERS
The organizers will have professions directly linked with the metaverse ecosystems. They will ensure its proper functioning over time, either by maintaining specific elements, or by their ability to support users in managing these elements.
16 — Metaverse Wealth Manager
If you buy land and other NFTs in multiple metaverses, you might get to a point where the value of all those cryptoassets becomes hard to track. Metaverse wealth managers have a bright future ahead of them, because given the sums invested and those to come, it will take professionals specialized in management and web 3.0.
Skills and knowledge required: Rigor, Creativity, Communication, Understanding of the metaverse economy, Law, Taxation, Sense of service.
17 — Metaverse Art Director
An Art Director in the broadest sense knows how to transform ideas into sensory experiences. In the metaverse, they will design the experiences avatars will have at concerts, parades, and other big events. They will have to imagine fake projectors, avatars of dancers and singers, and sounds transcribed into virtual acoustics. Strong imagination required!
Skills and knowledge required: Creativity, Sense of detail, Artistic sense, Communication, Mastery of immersion tools, Organization.
18 — Metaverse event handler
In the Metaverse, there will be exhibitions, weddings, parties, and all kinds of events. The Event Manager will handle the logistics and coordination of stakeholders, to ensure a smooth and successful run of the event. As in the real world in short, but managing a double logistics in the real and in the virtual.
Skills and knowledge required: Rigour, Attention to detail, Artistic sense, Communication, Collaboration, Immersive navigation, Organization.
19 — Metaverse Star Agent
Real-world stars, athletes, and influencers have agents to manage their careers, and so will metaverse stars. It may just be a simple extension of the existing profession, or the peculiarities of success in the metaverse will lead to the creation of a profession completely specialized in the field.
Skills and knowledge required: Sense of service, Creativity, Communication, Argumentation, Sense of observation, Artistic sense, Sense of the network.
20 — Metaverse Lawyer
The metaverse is governed by blockchain processes, or smart contracts. To protect your interests during business transactions in the metaverse, you will therefore need lawyers specialized in the blockchain, able to understand and transcribe the properties of the smart contracts that you will have to sign, such as the rates of royalties or other passive income. .
Skills and knowledge required: Law, Communication, Negotiation, Understanding blockchain protocols, Mathematics.
21 — Metaverse Recruiter
A metaverse recruiter will need to recruit an individual for their ability to embody their avatar as needed, while evaluating the human behind. A double look that will have to take into account ethical issues such as age, gender and more. Can an old man embody an avatar of a young hostess? Fortunately, the recruiter will have the instructions of the ethicist!
Skills and knowledge required: Communication, Sense of observation, Negotiation, Critical thinking, Mastery of recruitment processes.
22 — Metaverse Grave Cleaner
People are dying, that’s a fact. And when that happens, you have to be able to delete the traces of the various platforms, if only out of decency. This profession already exists in connection with social networks. In the metaverse, it will take on a whole new dimension, because in a decentralized universe that belongs to its users, presence and ownership will matter.
Skills and knowledge required: Rigor, Discretion, Organization, Communication, Sense of service, Mastery of immersion tools.
23 — Metaverse Executor
Before deleting the virtual assets of deceased persons, it will be necessary to ascertain the possible successions. This will be the job of the metaverse executor, able to transfer crypto-assets and other virtual goods to designated descendants. And in this market of the digital afterlife, he will ensure that the wishes of the deceased are respected.
Skills and knowledge required: Law, Notary, Communication, Sense of service, Mastery of crypto-asset management tools.
24 — Metaverse Moderator
Online forums and social networks have seen the emergence of armies of moderators to ensure smooth and civilized interactions between users, sometimes censoring inappropriate content or even excluding problematic users. In the metaverse, managed and created by its users, the excesses will be numerous and constant.
Skills and knowledge required: Immersive navigation, Communication, Mastery of metaverse administration tools, Sense of observation.
25 — Metaverse Ad Blocker
In the metaverse, it’s a safe bet that advertisers will do their best to expose us to as many ads as possible. Just as experts have positioned themselves on the blocking of advertisements on sites and social networks, blockers will develop specialized plugins for the metaverse, somewhat in line with the AdBlock Plus model.
Skills and knowledge required: Analysis, Programming, Creativity, Critical thinking, Rigour.
26 — Meta-Security Expert
Wherever there are computers and the Internet, there can be cyber attacks. The Metaverse will be no exception. These experts will make sure your avatar doesn’t fall victim to a virus, or your house doesn’t get meta-ransacked. If the blockchain is inviolable, this is far from being the case for all the applications and connectors that revolve around it to create uses!
Skills and knowledge required: Analysis, Programming, Blockchain, Creativity, Critical thinking, Rigor, Cyber-security.
27 — Meta-IT manager
To navigate the metaverse, you will need equipment. First it will be headsets, glasses and joysticks, then sensors and sensory haptic clothing, and maybe one day chips in your brain (unfortunately for humanity). As part of a business, you will need someone to manage these fleets of equipment!
Skills and knowledge required: Rigor, Communication, Analysis, Sense of anticipation, Mastery of XR equipment.
THE DESIGNERS
Designers are literally the ones who will allow metaverses to exist and evolve in an organized way. They will think and create everything related to the metaverse, from the floor to the ceiling, including the rules, the experiences and more generally the aspect of everything that we will see and do in the virtual universe.
28 — Stylist for virtual avatars
The Metaverse Stylist designs and creates the clothing and accessories that fashionable avatars will wear in the Metaverse. It is possible that the next Karl Lagerfeld will be recognized for the fashion trends that he will have been able to establish in this or that metaverse.
Skills and knowledge required: Creativity, Artistic sense, Knowledge of metaverse fashion trends, Mastery of 3D design tools.
29 — Metaverse Ethician
Can you kill someone in the Metaverse? Will there be homeless people and poor neighborhoods? Should the metaverse be educational? So many questions that will require the presence of conscientious objectors, capable of problematizing the subjects, to provide answers that can be transcribed into fundamental rules of operation of the metaverse.
Skills and knowledge required: Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Sense of observation, Sense of anticipation, Sense of objectivity.
30 — Metaverse Architect
In the real world, the laws of physics apply. In the virtual world, it is possible to create our own rules, and our own constructs. One could imagine that the day lasts two hours, that the water does not flow, that there is wind, etc. The architect will create these rules, and implement them technically to make them the new laws of physics.
Skills and knowledge required: Critical thinking, Creativity, Sense of observation, Modeling, Architecture, Programming, Anthropology.
31 — Metaverse Urban Planner
What will a typical neighborhood look like in the Metaverse? What will differentiate two neighborhoods? They will have the daunting task of anticipating the growth and evolution of metaverses, creating environments that allow transportation, housing, commerce, and other services necessary for civilized life. Any Sim City or Minecraft pros here?
Skills and knowledge required: Critical thinking, Creativity, Modeling, Urban planning, Architecture, Game design, Programming, Anthropology.
32 — Metaverse Planner
Metaverses will be a colossal source of potential revenue. It will be necessary to create services and associate an economic model with them. In Web 3.0, users create and own the network. Everyone will be able to create a space with their service or application, and all these services will be linked and intertwined in the metaverses. The planner understands this complexity.
Skills and knowledge required: Creativity, Critical Thinking, Collaboration, Communication, Sense of observation, Anticipation, Sense of entrepreneurship.
33 — Metaverse Bot Avatar Designer
In a video game, you can meet characters programmed to give certain answers, the famous NPCs or Non-Player Characters. In the metaverse, there will be tons of NPCs or ‘bots’. It will be necessary to program their responses and behaviors well, to offer ever more fluid experiences for unprogrammed avatars (humans what!).
Skills and knowledge required: Data science, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity, Sense of observation, Critical spirit, Sense of ethics.
34 — Metaverse Storyteller
The metaverse will be a first success if it manages to generate emotions among users. The experiences we will have will have to be embodied, authentic and exciting. Just as the UX designer thinks about the user experience for web applications or real-world services, the storyteller will create immersive stories and scenarios of all types.
Skills and knowledge required: Creativity, Communication, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Game design, Psychology, Mastery of immersive tools.
35 — Metaverse Regulator
If there end up being metaverse policemen, it is because at some point we will have created the laws, codes and standards of the metaverse. The regulatory agent will be in charge of coordinating the creation and evolution of standards, laws and codes, which will a priori be created in a collaborative manner, within the framework of DAOs (decentralized autonomous organizations).
Skills and knowledge required: Rigour, Collaboration, Communication, Critical thinking, Law, Sense of detail.
36 — Metaverse Connector
As you will have understood, there will not be a metaverse, but a multitude of worlds, each offering their particularities. It will be possible to switch from one world to another very simply, thanks in particular to the work of metaverse connectors. These modern API developers will need to build compatibility bridges to port your preferences, data, and more.
Skills and knowledge required: Creativity, Critical thinking, Programming, Blockchain, Analysis.
THE OBSERVERS
With the blockchain, all data is logged and made transparent. But that doesn’t make them meaningful. Whether it is to remember the past, understand the present or anticipate the future, we will need professionals whose job is to observe and record everything that happens in the metaverse.
37 — Metaverse Analyst
With metaverses, data analysts have enough to extend their expertise. It is likely that some analysts will become specialized in the metaverse in general, or even some in particular. They will be responsible for analyzing, interpreting and communicating flows, trends, major events, to better understand and anticipate possibilities for the future.
Skills and knowledge required: Creativity, Critical thinking, Programming, Blockchain, Analysis, Communication.
38 — Metaverse Historian
Remember that day when Nike gave away virtual shoes to all Roblox avatars? Oh no, it hasn’t happened yet… But real stories, which will forge meta culture, there will be a lot of them. Historians will also be able to play the role of Metaverse Cartographers, thus becoming Metaverse Historians/Geographers. A profession of the future.
Skills and knowledge required: Rigor, Sense of observation, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Blockchain, Analysis, Communication.
39 — Metaverse Cartographer
Inevitably, if there are cartographic historians, there should be cartographic specialists. These experts will be a bit like the new explorers, making it possible to identify who owns what, to make each metaverse more readable in the eyes of neophytes. In your living room, next to the world map, you will have the maps of each metaverse!
Skills and knowledge required: Rigour, Sense of observation, Collaboration, Critical thinking, Blockchain, Analysis, Communication, Spatial mastery.
40 — Real World Human Being
If too many people spend their time in the metaverse, one can easily imagine large shopping centers or event organizers paying extras to prevent the physical places from being completely empty and gloomy. And if there aren’t enough human extras, we can always count on the human-faced androids to say hello.
Skills and knowledge required: Humanity, Citizenship, Awareness…
CONCLUSION
The metaverses are not yet really operational, and it is already possible to imagine more than forty related professions. Over the next ten years, several hundred new professions will probably be invented to meet these new uses.
Behind all these new professions, it will obviously be necessary to take into account all the current professions essential for these virtual universes to exist: IT developers, blockchain engineers, IT infrastructure engineers, data scientists, data analysts, product managers, marketing managers, sales managers, etc.
Also, to be able to comfortably immerse yourself in these metaverses, it will be necessary to develop the appropriate equipment, such as XR helmets, sensory haptic clothing, etc. This equipment will not design or produce itself! We are only at the beginning of this great societal change. Whether out of curiosity, for your career or to start a business, there is every interest in observing closely what will happen on the subjects of web 3.0 and metaverses.
If you are interested in the impacts on society of the metaverse and more broadly of web 3.0, I invite you to subscribe to my newsletter on Linkedin Metavers, HR & Organizations. In the meantime, I would be curious to read what other professions you imagine for this future that awaits us? To read you :)
NB: you can cite all or part of this article at will, please simply cite the source, and put a link :)
If the concept of metaverse is still vague for you, I invite you to subscribe to my dedicated Linkedin newsletter, and to read the following articles that I have written on the subject:
Those are in French, so don’t hesitate to Google translate if needed:
- NL #1 — Métavers et RH ??? Bienvenue en 2022…
- NL #2 — Ferez-vous bientôt vos réunions dans le métavers ?
- NL #3 — Mille milliards de dollars peuvent-ils changer votre quotidien ?
- NL #4 — Le web 3 peut-il changer le cours d’une guerre ?
- NL #5 — Est-ce qu’on s’est croisés à Virtuality ?
- NL #6 — Avez-vous passé votre heure quotidienne dans le métavers ?
- NL #7 — Connaissez-vous les 15 caractéristiques d’un métavers ?
- NL #8 — Votre entreprise va-t-elle investir dans le métavers ?
