Workers seek virtual worlds for collaboration, says Meta

UK employees want to work in more collaborative environments and feel that current work set-ups stifle togetherness, according to research from Meta.

The company’s survey of more than 1,000 employees found that 84% feel happiest at work when they feel included, and 81% want to work in collaborative environments.

Only 16% felt that video calls helped them to feel present in meetings, and just 14% thought video supported inclusion.

Almost three-quarters of respondents (72%) thought that it would be exciting to incorporate virtual reality (VR) technology into their working lives, with 57% claiming they would be more likely to stay in a role if they had access to this sort of technology.

Almost six in 10 said the metaverse – a collection of VR and other communications tools that creates a virtual world where people can interact – would replicate the sense of togetherness they get from coming into the office.

However, VR and augmented reality (AR) only occupies around 14% on average of UK tech spend, despite 62% of leaders investing in AR/VA or metaverse technologies in the past year.

Meta predicts that businesses will work with a number of companies to curate the software tools they need for a “virtual workspace”. However, 60% of employers in its survey said they feel behind their competitors when it comes to planning for the metaverse.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg recently announced the company would have to lay off 13% of its workforce, and critics have accused the business of having an obsession with metaverse when the concept is yet to be proven.

But the company insists that employers will invest in VR headsets and other tools over laptop upgrades as around a third of the workforce continues to work remotely.

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According to its survey, 68% of employees think that organisations that create a “true presence” globally will be able to create a sense of belonging in the hybrid world of work.

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