Is Meta Pulling Back on Their VR Strategy?

In October 2021, Facebook announced its rebranding to Meta to reflect its focus on building the “metaverse” – an immersive virtual environment that could redefine social interactions online. Many believe the metaverse is the next big thing in tech. In collaboration with Bloomberg, Revelio Labs took a look at the recent hiring trend in the world of metaverse to see which companies have been riding the recent hype.

Since Meta’s rebranding in October 2021, the number of new job postings mentioning virtual reality (VR) skyrocketed in early 2022, our HR database shows. However, the crypto crash and tech slowdown likely destroyed the hiring demand more recently. While Meta led the way in demand for VR talent in late 2021, it slowed its effort, as other companies rushed in to fill the void.

Among those with the highest demand for VR talent, tech companies dominate the chart, but companies in the Health, Retail, and Telecommunication industries are also dipping their toes in the metaverse. While Meta’s increased focus on the metaverse was highly publicized through its high profile announcement, other companies have quietly ramped up their hiring efforts for VR talent. In a surprising turn of events, Accenture has put out more VR related job postings than Meta since October 2021.

As Accenture quickly expands its services in the metaverse, its focus is slightly different than Meta’s, according to the Revelio Labs HR database. When we use the Revelio skills taxonomy to compare the skill share differences between Accenture and Meta, we see that the VR positions in Accenture have a much higher share in design-focused skills while those in Meta have a greater emphasis on research and product development. As a specialist in digital transformation and implementation, Accenture is not looking to conduct ground breaking research, but is perhaps hoping to leverage existing tools to help its clients adapt and operate in the metaverse.

Key takeaways:

• Since Meta’s rebranding in October 2021, the number of VR related job postings increased rapidly in early 2022 but died down in recent months.
• Tech companies dominated in their demand for VR talent during the hype but companies in other industries were also looking to expand their services into the metaverse.
• Accenture surpassed Meta in its hiring effort for VR talent since October 2021, but its focus is more design-based, our skills taxonomy indicates.