Spotify joins other tech companies in scramble to recruit Web3 talent

The streaming giant posted two jobs recently with a focus on Web3 initiatives, joining a growing group of companies from Disney to Nike looking to hire in the emerging sector. 

The company posted a listing on LinkedIn for a senior backend engineer who would “facilitate collaboration with product, insights, and design to uncover the next growth opportunity leveraging new technologies, like Web3.” The engineer will work with Spotify’s experimental growth “Edison team” within its freemium division. 

The company also recently posted a position for a senior manager of innovation and market intelligence. The manager will report directly to Spotify’s head of innovation and market intelligence and must be well versed in emerging trends, “especially as it relates to the content, creator, media, Web3, and emerging technology industries,” according to the listing.

Spotify did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.

Web3 is a blanket term for the next generation of the internet which incorporates NFTs, cryptocurrencies, the metaverse, and tools that are decentralized, or not controlled by a single entity or person. The broadness of the term hasn’t stopped several companies from incorporating it into their job listings in the past few months.

It’s unclear what Spotify’s ambitions are related to Web3, but it joins a number of other companies in tech that have recently incorporated the emerging technology into their operations. YouTube, Facebook parent company Meta, and Microsoft have either centered job listings around Web3 or mentioned the term. YouTube has posted at least three listings on LinkedIn in the past week for Web3-related roles including a director of product management who will “define, communicate, and execute the vision, strategy, and road map for Web3 at YouTube.” 

Meta, which invested $10 billion in the metaverse last year, has also posted several jobs at its companies. Instagram, for example, is looking for a fashion lead who will work with fashion influencers to create a strategy incorporating Web3 and the metaverse, according to the listing. At Reality Labs, which focuses on virtual and augmented reality, Meta is hiring seven people, including a director of metaverse engineering who will lead its newly created “Business Engineering—Metaverse organization.” The director will oversee key metaverse-related areas, like avatars, the company’s Horizon Worlds platform, and its Spark AR platforms, according to the listing.

Outside of major tech players, fashion and apparel companies have also stepped up their search for candidates with expertise in the metaverse and Web3 technology, as they increasingly pursue the opportunity to make digital versions of their products. 

In the fashion sector, luxury brands Gucci and Balenciaga recently posted jobs related to Web3. Balenciaga said it was launching a “metaverse department” last December, and posted a listing for a meta business coordinator later that month. Gucci, which shares a parent company—Kering—with Balenciaga, posted a listing for a Milan-based “Web3 manager” earlier this year. 

Shoe and apparel behemoth Nike is also jumping into the race for talent. As of Thursday, the company had at least 11 job postings on LinkedIn that either included the term “Web3” or “metaverse.” The positions include a director of metaverse engineering and a virtual material designer. Last year, the company bought RTFKT Studios, a company that makes and sells NFTs, including virtual shoes. It also filed trademark applications related to virtual goods like shoes and clothing last year and later filed a lawsuit against Detroit-based sneaker and apparel exchange StockX for allegedly selling NFTs that infringe on its trademarks.