Zuckerberg has been in the global spotlight lately, and news coverage of him seems to be everywhere.

Xiao Zha first got an offline appointment from Twitter boss Musk because Meta’s upcoming social platform, Threads, was too similar to Twitter. Musk tweeted: I am ready to fight in the cage, if he (Zuckerberg) wants to. Zuckerberg’s response: Send me the address.

Secondly, the “Wall Street Journal” released news that Meta is negotiating with Tencent to try to introduce Meta’s VR headsets into the Chinese market. However, since Zuckerberg once accused Chinese companies of stealing American technology, this matter faced great resistance both in practice and in public opinion.

Of course, Zuckerberg also had a positive report, and it was about the Metaverse. According to people familiar with the matter, in order to attract excellent VR developers, Meta offers an annual salary of up to one million US dollars (currently about 7.26 million yuan), which far exceeds the current market level.

Patrick McAdams, chief executive of Andiamo, said that Meta’s salary level is significantly higher than other big companies, and their total compensation is twice or more that of other large Internet companies.

From these news reports, we can roughly outline Zuckerberg’s character and image: competitive, unscrupulous and adventurous. This is the key to his ability to become a billionaire and the root cause of many missed opportunities.

From the acquisition of Oculus at a sky-high price, to the wayward all in the metaverse, they are all manifestations of Zuckerberg’s character traits, but it is also very difficult for Zuckerberg to go on this road. From 2012 to the second quarter of 2023, Meta has invested about $56 billion in the Reality Labs unit. That spending covers marketing, manufacturing and hardware subsidies as well as software, R&D and M&A investments, and brings Reality Labs’ cumulative revenue to about $7 billion, meaning the division has posted a net loss of $49 billion to date.

The status quo of Meta’s continuous blood loss is superimposed on the economic downturn. As a result, in 2021 alone, Meta has carried out three large-scale layoffs, with a total of 21,000 employees laid off, equivalent to 24% of the total number of employees last year. According to Zuckerberg, the move is intended to restructure and optimize the company. Meta will increase investment in areas such as the metaverse and artificial intelligence to realize the company’s long-term vision.

That is to say, even though he suffered losses and laid off employees, Zuckerberg still refuses to accept it and still wants to increase investment in the metaverse field. The recruitment of VR developers with an annual salary of one million mentioned at the beginning of the article can also prove this point. Therefore, whether you like Zuckerberg or not, there are still some merits in his stubbornness that I can’t help myself. Among other things, at least jobs have been created for our metaverse practitioners, and the salaries are high.

In the long run, the economy of the Metaverse is expected to grow to $5 trillion by 2030. Many new business types will appear in the Metaverse, and new jobs will inevitably increase. To this end, we have made an inventory of the high-paying jobs that Metaverse will bring, and explained the professional skills required for each job.

AR/VR software engineer

Annual Salary: US$114,000-191,000

Job content: AR/VR software engineers need to participate in the design, development, testing, deployment and maintenance of software engineering systems, and be able to ensure the quality and progress of the project. They need to analyze and design documents according to requirements, write efficient, readable and maintainable code, and perform unit testing, integration testing, performance testing, etc. They also need to use version control, debugging tools, documentation tools, etc. to assist development, and be able to solve key problems and technical difficulties in engineering. According to zipreruiter, the average annual salary for a VR engineer is $114,331, with some engineers earning as much as $191,000.

Skills required: AR/VR software engineers need to be proficient in using at least one XR SDK, such as ARCore, ARKit, SenseAR, ARFoundation, Vuforia, Wikitude, etc., to create AR experiences for mobile platforms. Or use Oculus SDK, HTC Vive SDK, SteamVR SDK, etc. to create VR experiences for headsets. Or use the WebXR API, A-Frame, Three.js, and more to create XR experiences for the web platform.

UI/UX designer

Salary: US$128,000-198,000/year

Job content: User interface (UI) and user experience (UX) designers are very important in the metaverse. They are professionals who are responsible for designing and optimizing user interface and user experience in the metaverse field. They need to adapt to different application scenarios and users Need to create an immersive and interactive Metaverse experience. According to Glassdoor, the average annual salary of UX designers at Meta is $134,993, with some designers earning as much as $198,000.

Skill requirements: Metaverse UI/UX designers need to be proficient in at least one UI design tool, such as Sketch, Figma, Adobe XD, etc., and be able to use these tools for interface design. For Web-based metaverse applications, you also need to be familiar with front-end technologies such as HTML, CSS, and JS. For metaverse applications based on game engines, you also need to be familiar with the use and optimization of engines such as Unity or Unreal. For metaverse applications based on 3D modeling, you also need to be familiar with Blender, Maya, Cinema4D and other tools to create and optimize 3D models and environments.

3D designer

Salary: $77,000-106,000/year

What they do: 3D designers are responsible for creating the metaverse and objects that people will interact with in the metaverse. Work content includes but not limited to using 3D software (such as 3ds Max, Maya, Blender, etc.) to create 3D models based on original paintings or reference materials, including characters, scenes, props, etc.; add materials and textures to 3D models to make them more realistic and rich Expressiveness; use rendering software (such as VRay, Keyshot, UE4, etc.) to process lighting, shadows, reflections and other effects on 3D models to generate high-quality pictures or videos; 3D models for skeletal rigging, motion capture, keyframe editing, and more to create smooth and expressive animations.

Skill requirements: 3D modeling needs to have a certain art foundation and sense of space, and be able to grasp proportions, structures, details, etc.; 3D rendering needs to have a certain aesthetic quality and visual expression, and be able to control rendering parameters and post-processing; 3D animation needs to have Certain animation theory knowledge and dynamic sense, able to grasp the rhythm, speed, center of gravity, etc.

Metaverse Architect

Salary: USD 200,000-500,000/year

Job content: Responsible for the research and planning of the technical architecture related to the Metaverse, including the underlying infrastructure, equipment, content, artificial intelligence, blockchain and other technical fields, select the appropriate technical route and solution, and solve technical difficulties and challenges; The innovative development of universe-related products and services, including game, social, education, entertainment, financial and other application scenarios, using 3D engine, XR technology, digital twin technology and other tools to create immersive and interactive experience.

Skill requirements: need to be proficient in at least one programming language, such as C++, C#, Java, Python, etc., be able to write efficient, stable, and scalable code, and be able to use various open source software and frameworks; need to be proficient in at least one 3D design Software, such as 3ds Max, Maya, Blender, etc., can create and optimize 3D models, animations, textures, etc., and can use various rendering software and engines. Need to be proficient in at least one XR technology, such as VR/AR, MR, etc., be able to use various devices and platforms, such as Oculus, Meta, SteamVR, etc., be able to design and develop immersive and interactive applications; need to be proficient in at least one A variety of artificial intelligence technologies, such as machine learning, deep learning, computer vision, natural language processing, etc., can use various frameworks and libraries, such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, OpenCV, NLTK, etc., to design and develop intelligent functions and services.

#Web3Developers

Salary: USD 150,000-200,000/year

Job description: Web3 developers are crucial to the metaverse, they are responsible for the underlying technology of all blockchain aspects of the metaverse, including systems that enable secure transactions in the metaverse, decentralized applications (Dapps) and writing smart contract. According to ZipRecruiter, the average blockchain developer salary is $150,000/year, with some developers earning as much as $200,000/year.

Required Skills: To land a job as a Web3 developer, you should know the basics of blockchain and cryptography. If you plan to write smart contracts on Ethereum, you should know Solidity. Other related programming languages are Python, Ruby, java, c++ and c#. You should also be familiar with DSA.