Big tech companies such as Meta, which owns Facebook, are throwing billions of dollars into developing their version of the metaverse – virtual spaces where we are all represented by 3D avatars or holographic versions of ourselves. It’s a vision that includes offices in the metaverse, and companies including consultancy Accenture are already using VR headsets and virtual worlds to onboard and train new staff. Working It host Isabel Berwick talks to Lynn Wu, a Wharton Business School professor and an expert on emerging technologies, and Dave Lee, the FT’s San Francisco-based tech correspondent, to find out more about the workplace metaverse. What kinds of ethical questions are raised when working in a world beyond national and corporate borders? What rights will employees have? 

Want more? 

What are our employment rights in the metaverse?

https://www.ft.com/content/9463ed05-c847-425d-9051-482bd3a1e4b1

What do tech companies hope will be the wider potential of the metaverse?

https://www.ft.com/content/c47eb9fe-2606-4b7c-8527-53d993e84039 

A look inside Accenture’s “virtual campus” called Nth Floor gives a good idea about how a workplace metaverse will function  

https://www.accenture.com/us-en/about/going-beyond-extended-reality

FT Alphaville takes a sideways glance at what the metaverse hype really means

https://www.ft.com/content/40f545c1-178e-43ef-8bac-6010c7781a77

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Presented by Isabel Berwick. Editorial direction from Renée Kaplan and Manuela Saragosa. Assistant producer is Persis Love. Sound design is by Breen Turner, with original music from Metaphor Music. Produced by Novel.

Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com

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