VOA慢速英语--Facebook将在欧盟招聘1万名员工打造“元宇宙”

Facebook to Hire 10,000 in EU to Help Build the ‘Metaverse’

Facebook says it plans to hire 10,000 workers in the European Union over the next five years to help build the "metaverse."

The metaverse has been described as a non-physical world in which individuals can communicate through different kinds of virtual technology.

The social media company announced its hiring plans for the EU in a statement published online. Facebook's hiring drive is expected to target Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Ireland.

In the statement, the company said the metaverse will aim to create a greater sense of "virtual presence" for users. The idea is to build an online environment that will be much closer to the experience of interacting in person.

Facebook has already invested heavily in virtual reality (VR) and augmented¹ reality (AR) technologies. Such technologies are expected to drive the metaverse. Company chief Mark Zuckerberg has said he plans to connect the social media service's nearly three billion users in new ways through these technologies.

Last month, Facebook announced a $50 million investment to finance worldwide research and partnerships² to develop products for the metaverse. It said it plans to work on the effort with civil rights groups, non-profit organizations, governments and universities.

Facebook has also created a new team to develop metaverse products. But the company has said it will likely take 10 to 15 years to fully³ develop many of those products.

In the new statement, Facebook said "the need for highly specialized⁴ engineers is one of Facebook's most pressing priorities" in its metaverse development efforts. "We look forward to working with governments across the EU to find the right people and the right markets to take this forward, as part of an upcoming recruitment drive."

The statement recognized that many different parties would have to come together to build the metaverse. "No one company will own and operate the metaverse...Bringing this to life will take collaboration⁵ and cooperation across companies, developers, creators and policymakers."

The statement added: "This investment is a vote of confidence in the strength of the European tech industry."

Facebook has faced investigations⁶ in several EU nations into whether its operations limit competition. The company has also been criticized for not doing enough to protect the privacy and safety of its users and for failing to block hate speech from its services.

Words in This Story

virtual – adj. used to describe something that can be done or seen using computers or the internet instead of happening in a physical place

interact – v. to talk and do things with other people

virtual reality – n. a set of images and sounds produced by a computer to represent a real place or situation

augmented reality – n. an enhanced version of reality using technology to add digital information on an image of something

priority – n. something that is very important and must be dealt with before other things

recruit – v. to try to persuade someone to work for a company or join an organization

collaborate⁷ – v. work together with other people on a single project

vote of confidence – n. a sign that someone is pleased with the quality of something or what someone else has done or produced

1 Augmented   

adj.增音的 动词augment的过去式和过去分词形式

参考例句：

• 'scientists won't be replaced," he claims, "but they will be augmented." 他宣称：“科学家不会被取代；相反，他们会被拓展。” 来自英汉非文学 - 科学史
• The impact of the report was augmented by its timing. 由于发表的时间选得好，这篇报导的影响更大了。

2 partnerships   

n.伙伴关系( partnership的名词复数 )；合伙人身份；合作关系

参考例句：

• Partnerships suffer another major disadvantage: decision-making is shared. 合伙企业的另一主要缺点是决定要由大家来作。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• It involved selling off limited partnerships. 它涉及到售出有限的合伙权。 来自辞典例句

3 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

4 specialized   

adj.专门的，专业化的

参考例句：

• There are many specialized agencies in the United Nations.联合国有许多专门机构。
• These tools are very specialized.这些是专用工具。

5 collaboration   

n.合作，协作；勾结

参考例句：

• The two companies are working in close collaboration each other.这两家公司密切合作。
• He was shot for collaboration with the enemy.他因通敌而被枪毙了。

6 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

7 collaborate   

vi.协作，合作；协调

参考例句：

• The work gets done more quickly when we collaborate.我们一旦合作，工作做起来就更快了。
• I would ask you to collaborate with us in this work.我们愿意请你们在这项工作中和我们合作。