4 Ways the Metaverse Will Change HR

Experts predict that 36 million Americans will be working remotely in 2025, a 417% increase from pre-pandemic numbers. That continued growth has largely been driven by employees (and their changed views towards work), many of whom will no longer apply for jobs that do not offer any kind of flexible work options. 

But as more and more workers demand remote options and more and more businesses embrace flexible work policies to meet that demand, technology is slow to catch up. 

What “Zoom Fatigue” Is Telling Us

During the pandemic, video conferencing technology like Zoom turned record profits thanks to office shutdowns. Soon, however, employees across the country began to report feelings of exhaustion after spending long hours in video meetings—a condition now commonly known as “Zoom Fatigue”.  

Similarly, remote workers also started feeling overwhelmed by other virtual communication methods, like instant messaging platforms (i.e. Slack) and email. 

When offices closed in 2020, managers and team members alike started using messaging and email as a proxy for those organic, impromptu conversations that only happen in the office and came to expect immediate responses to their questions. 

The result: stressed-out employees who were distracted from doing their jobs by a constant stream of messages (all of which felt “urgent”). 

Over time, it’s become clear that the current remote work technologies, including popular video chat and messaging platforms, have design flaws that exhaust the human mind and body. Ultimately, in their current state, these systems are not meeting the needs of their users. 

That discrepancy leaves ample opportunity for a new kind of technology to step in and solve problems for the remote worker—a technology that makes working from home more comfortable and more lifelike for employees and employers alike. 

Enter: The Metaverse

The metaverse, according to McKinsey, is the emerging 3D-enabled digital space that uses virtual reality, augmented reality, and other advanced internet and semiconductor technology to allow people to have lifelike personal and business experiences online.

Many believe it will transform how people spend time with their friends and family, how companies interact with their customers, how educators teach students, and so much more.  

In the context of remote work, the metaverse is a computer-generated environment meant to simulate a work-like setting. 

While that doesn’t necessarily mean the metaverse will replicate the office, it does mean that the metaverse will create the conditions necessary for a healthy virtual work environment—an environment in which employees can have those crucial organic, impromptu conversations that happen in the office (and more).  

How the Metaverse Will Affect HR

Many leading experts believe that the metaverse will be put into regular use at work sooner than we think—including Bill Gates who asserted that the majority of meetings will move to the metaverse within three years. 

That means change is coming for organizations everywhere that employ remote workers. And consequently, change is coming for their HR departments—the group responsible for creating a positive, healthy work environment for those remote employees. 

Here are the areas in which the metaverse will affect HR: 

1. Recruiting and Hiring 

The metaverse will make it easier (and safer) for HR professionals to find the right candidates, no matter where they are. Employers will be able to create virtual job fairs and recruiting events, allowing them to attract talent worldwide. They’ll also be able to evaluate candidates more thoroughly via lifelike interviews, ultimately reducing risk. Additionally, the metaverse will help HR pros start out on the right foot with new employees–by providing a more natural, comfortable environment for salary negotiations, onboarding, and other pre-employment activities. 

2. Learning and Development

Employees will be able to have real, immersive learning experiences in the metaverse that make them better at their jobs. Rather than clicking mindlessly through a deck or listening passively to a webinar, employees will be able to physically practice the most critical interactions they have in their respective roles–they’ll learn by doing. For example, HR professionals will be able to direct employees to the metaverse for lifelike practice on negotiations, sales pitches, professional development conversations, and more. 

3. Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

A metaverse-based workspace could pose a threat to HR departments and their DE&I goals. First, the metaverse will likely feel native to younger workers while forcing many older workers to learn to work in an entirely new way. Second, the metaverse requires more internet bandwidth, meaning that lower-income employees might have a harder time doing their jobs. Finally, the metaverse is an entirely reimagined “office”—a whole new workplace—meaning that the policies in place to create a positive, inclusive work environment in the real world might not hold up. HR pros will have to figure out how to navigate and govern this new world—like creating an inclusive virtual space for everyone and ensuring that employees respectfully use features like avatars. 

4. Culture and Engagement

The metaverse promises to bring new levels of social connection and collaboration—levels that video conferencing and instant messaging just cannot reach. That opens the door for employers and HR to inspire the kind of culture they want to see in their organization and to keep employees engaged through that culture–ultimately reducing retention rates.

For more insights into how the metaverse will transform the future of work, tune in tomorrow for another episode of America Back to Work: Expert Interview Series. 

Our very own chief strategy officer (and former U.S. Secret Service agent), Arnette Heintze, sits down with Doug Simon, CEO of D S Simon Media, to get his expert tips on how HR professionals can prepare for a future in the metaverse. 

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