6 out of 10 Seoul Citizens Say They Would Commute via 'Metaverse'... 53% Find It Easier to Balance Work and Family

Seoul Women's Capacity Development Institute Survey on Changing Work Patterns and Jobs in Future Society
Over Half of Respondents "Have Metaverse Experience"... 73.3% Experienced Game Content
Most Interested Future Metaverse Job is 'Game and Service Developer'

[Asia Economy Reporter Lim Cheol-young] More than six out of ten Seoul citizens prefer to commute to the 'metaverse' rather than their actual workplace if they could choose their commuting method.

On the 18th, the Seoul Women's Ability Development Institute announced this result after conducting a survey through social network services (SNS) to understand perceptions of changing work styles and high value-added future jobs in the future society. The institute conducted the survey for ten days from August 10 to 19 on the theme of 'commuting to the real-world workplace in person vs. commuting to the virtual workplace as one's avatar.'

The survey results showed that respondents who chose 'commuting to the virtual workplace as their avatar' (65.1%, 2,916 people) outnumbered those who chose 'commuting to the real-world workplace in person' (34.9%, 1,560 people) by 30.2%.

The most common reason for choosing 'commuting to the virtual workplace as their avatar' was 'being able to work in the virtual world while simultaneously attending to the real world,' accounting for 53.1% (1,549 people). Among them, 56% of women (1,288 people) and 43% of men (261 people) cited work-life balance as the reason, with married women in their 20s showing the strongest response at 81% (29 people). Other reasons included 'preferring communication via avatars over face-to-face communication' (19.9%, 581 people) and 'expecting virtual work to be more convenient' (17.4%, 508 people).

On the other hand, those who responded that they would commute to the real world in person cited a preference for face-to-face communication (41%, 639 people) as the main reason. Following this were 'believing there are many tasks that cannot be done as an avatar' (27.5%, 429 people) and 'concerns that real-world responsibilities (housework, childcare, etc.) might reduce concentration on virtual work' (19.8%, 309 people), ranking second and third respectively.

When asked if they had ever experienced the metaverse, 58.2% (2,603 people) answered 'yes.' The most experienced content was 'game content' (73.3%, 1,908 people). Following game content, avatar platforms ranked second at 40.8% (1,061 people), and office/meeting dedicated services came third at 10.3% (269 people). The metaverse platforms people most want to experience are avatar platforms at 48.1% (901 people), game platforms at 44.8% (839 people), and office/meeting services at 40.5% (759 people).

Among future jobs gaining attention through the metaverse, the most interesting field was 'game developers and metaverse service developers,' accounting for 45.2% (2,024 people). Following this were avatar designers (40.6%, 1,819 people) and metaverse creators (37.8%, 1,690 people).

Shin Hyun-ok, director of the Seoul Women's Ability Development Institute, said, “Recently, there have been cases of holding recruitment briefings in the metaverse and companies commuting through the metaverse, increasing the use of metaverse platforms in work environments. As the emergence of the metaverse is expected to significantly influence work styles and job choices by growing related industries, we plan to design various vocational education, training, and employment support services related to this.”