Oct 18 (Reuters) - Facebook Inc (FB.O) plans to hire 10,000 in the European Union over the next five years, the social media giant said on Monday, to help build the so-called metaverse - a nascent online world where people exist and communicate in shared virtual spaces. This would be a significant step the company is taking towards the concept, something top boss Mark Zuckerberg has touted in recent months. In September, Facebook committed $50 million towards building the metaverse, where companies like Roblox Corp (RBLX.N) and "Fortnite" maker Epic Games have an early foothold. The company earlier launched a test of a new virtual-reality remote work app where users of the company"s Oculus Quest 2 headsets can hold meetings as avatar versions of themselves. Facebook also said in July it was creating a product team to work on the metaverse which would be part of Facebook Reality Labs, its augmented reality and virtual reality group. "This investment (in new jobs) is a vote of confidence in the strength of the European tech industry and the potential of European tech talent," the company said. "Europe is hugely important to Facebook.