Asian Tech Press (Oct 18) -- U.S. social media giant Facebook Inc (FB:NASDAQ GS) plans to create 10,000 jobs in the European Union over the next five years in a push to build a digital world it calls the metaverse.

Facebook said in a blog post Sunday that the company will hire highly skilled engineers in European Union countries, with recruitment currently focused on Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Poland, the Netherlands and Ireland.

"Europe is hugely important to Facebook," Nick Clegg, Facebook's vice president of global affairs, and Javier Olivan, vice president of central products, said inthe blog.

In July, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg unveiled his vision for the metaverse. It refers to a digital world that allows many people to interact in a 3D environment.