Corporate human resource (HR) function is set to be the next big thing in metaverse in the Middle East, as more and more companies look at incentivization models and onboarding processes of remote employees, industry experts said.
Banking, finance and e-sports sectors are among the other early adopters of the technology in the region.
“Currently, we are witnessing a big movement within the luxury industry, mainly driven by fashion brands, in the metaverse. However, going forward, HR will also play a big role within the metaverse,” Sandra Helou, co-founder and chief commercial officer at Metapolis, which claims to be the world’s first Metaverse-as-a-Service (MaaS) company, told Arabian Business.
Helou also foresees increasing female participation in the metaverse and technology sectors in the Middle East.
“The Middle East region is a young demographic and, as more women graduate with STEM degrees, we will continue to see women advance in the new age sectors such as tech and metaverse,” she said.
Senior industry executives in the corporate sector said companies are considering the pros and cons of trying out the technology for part of the HR functions before making a foray into it.
“The way the metaverse sector is growing and getting popular in the [Middle East] region, sooner or later companies will consider using it for some of the HR functions,” a Dubai-based senior corporate executive, who wished not to be identified, said.
Industry insiders said entry of more and more corporate functions into the metaverse is only a matter of time, as already there has been a big influx of government entities looking at how they can streamline their operations and seamlessly integrate into an always on layer through the technology.
“Businesses are increasingly embracing remote and hybrid working environments, which highlights the need for leaders to not only identify but also embrace innovative approaches to employee development and training in order to maintain a competitive and nimble workforce,” Zulfikar Ali, co-founder and COO of ShopDoc, a Dubai-based healthtech which has launched several metaverse projects, told Arabian Business.
“However, corporate training is increasingly becoming a problem area for employers, with the transition to remote and hybrid employment making traditional in-person training increasingly challenging. The solution to this is metaverse training,” Ali said.
Ali said there were many benefits of training in metaverse such as improving the on-boarding process, conducting safety, security, technical and sales training which are immersive.
“Metaverse learning is more cost-effective and also three times faster,” he said.
Regarding more and more women getting into the tech world, Helou said the Middle East region not only recognizes the economic value of increasing female participation in the workforce, but also understands the importance of diversity for creativity and innovation.
“By promoting the work being done by women in the metaverse, we can help to attract even more female participation,” she said.
Significantly, the proposed expansion of the sector with addition of new functions and sectors come amid a recent study by the Dubai-based luxury retailer giant Chalhoub Group projecting the metaverse industry in the Middle East becoming a whopping $13 trillion by 2030.
“I believe as people become more curious and aware about the sector, the more we will see an increase in education and a shift in interest to explore a career within the web3 space,” Helou said.
Dubai aims to be a global top 10 metaverse economy and an investment hub for the developing sector.
The emirate has recently approved a new strategy for rapid expansion of the sector, setting up a 100-day plan for government organisations to co-ordinate their contributions to the development of the digital economy.
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