European Commission Expects XR To Create 860,000 Jobs by 2025

The European Commission said the technologies of extended reality, XR, including virtual reality, augmented reality and mixed reality, will create around 860,000 jobs in Europe by 2025. 

This prediction came in a factsheet that gives an overview of Virtual Worlds and Web 4.0 and the numerous possibilities it can hold for citizens and businesses in the EU. 

The European Commission’s factsheet expected that the estimated growth of the global virtual worlds market would hit €800 billion in 2025, compared to €27 billion in 2022. It pointed out that the virtual worlds would have a significant impact on employment as it would create another 1.2 million to 2.4 million direct and indirect jobs in other sectors by 2025.

The paper detailed what sectors the virtual worlds would affect positively; health, education, industry, green transition, art, and design. For example, the industrial virtual worlds will reduce vehicle delivery time by 60% and the carbon footprint of vehicle manufacturing by 50% in 2025.

The commission noted that the most of innovations related to the metaverse are focused in the United States, China, and South Korea. 

“Contrary to these countries, in the EU there are no tech giants to lead the investment in the development of virtual worlds over the next decade,” the paper added. 

It is worth mentioning that the European Commission adopted a strong strategy for Web 4.0 and the virtual worlds, aka metaverse, to ensure an open, secure, trustworthy, fair, and inclusive digital environment for EU citizens, businesses, and public administrations.

In a press release, the European Commission said the new strategy comes in line with the current development of Web3 whose main features are openness, decentralization, and user full empowerment, pointing out that the next generation, Web 4.0, will enhance the integration between digital and real objects and environments and interactions between humans and machines.

The EU Commission showed its commitment to supporting creators and media companies in the EU region to test new creation tools, bring together developers and industrial users, and work with Member States to develop regulatory sandboxes for Web 4.0 and virtual worlds.