89% of employees in the Philippines want to spend more office time in the metaverse: study

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The Philippines could witness an exodus of corporate workers to the virtual worlds, notes a recent study conducted by Ciena (NYSE: CIEN). The report claimed that a large number of Filipino employees preferred working in the metaverse than traditional office spaces.

Some 89% of the surveyed employees disclosed that video conferencing tools were responsible for an uptick in their productivity. The absence of the need for long commutes to work saves time and money, leading to greater workplace efficiency, said 44% of respondents. 

“Filipino business professionals are clearly comfortable with virtual meetings and for the early adopters, ready to move to the metaverse,” said Dion Leung, regional managing director of Ciena in Southeast Asia.

For nearly 90% of respondents, working in the metaverse is the next transition for them, and they hoped their companies opened up the possibility. They argue that “introducing virtual reality space platforms into existing work processes” would see productivity spike to previously unseen levels because it allows teams to collaborate and interface effectively.

Filipino workers moving to work in the metaverse is predicted to be a smooth process because of their familiarity with Web 3 concepts. In the heat of the pandemic, Filipinos turned to digital assets trading en masse to augment their incomes as finances took a big hit. Play-to-earn games on distributed ledger technology (DLT) like Axie Infinity had sky-high numbers of Filipinos on the platform.

In Southeast Asia, the Philippines is topping the charts for transaction volumes on peer-to-peer digital assets exchanges. Thus, Ciena argues that the transition toward a metaverse workspace for firms in the Philippines would be a seamless process.

Metaverse plans around the world

Governments worldwide are in a frantic race to ensure their jurisdictions emerge as the leaders in the metaverse. In Asia, South Korea has unveiled several metaverse projects funded by the government in the hopes of stimulating growth in the digital economy.

Not wanting to play catch up, China has revealed detailed plans for virtual worlds in partnership with the country’s Big Tech firms. Dubai’s metaverse strategy aims to create 40% virtual jobs in the sector and serve as a training hub to develop a deep talent pool for its digital asset ecosystem.

The race is hinged upon the belief that the metaverse will be the next cash cow for economies that position themselves to reap the benefits. A Citi report forecasted that the metaverse could grow to be a $10 trillion industry by 2030 and have over 1 billion user base.

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