From virtual glasses testing to immersive car customization, extended reality—which includes virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies—is making its way into many areas of our lives. At home, my 11-year-old daughter often wears her VR glasses and plays with her friends. But the real superpower of extended reality (XR) in the workplace is only just beginning to take hold: its potential for comprehensive, efficient, and equitable career choice and vocational training.

In industries such as healthcare, manufacturing and skilled trades, XR technology is increasingly being used as an anytime, anywhere tool that provides training simulations and skills development. Most importantly, it offers solutions to obstacles faced by many workers, such as location issues, space requirements, time and individual attention from the instructor, and the availability of training materials (especially those that are expensive).

Here are three ways XR training is changing the future of work.

Training anywhere and on demand

Skilled trades face a major labor shortage. A recent report from McKinsey highlights the urgent challenge of addressing the skills shortage. At the same time, workforce needs are skyrocketing due to new investments in infrastructure and green energy. XR-based training can play a major role in meeting the need for rapid upskilling of the workforce and workers of all ages and demographics. It offers remote and self-paced training options that appeal to younger workers who value flexibility. It can meet the scale required for these new industries by training many people at once, rather than just as many as can fit in a classroom. And simulation models are easily adaptable to growing areas like clean energy.

One example is Interplay Learning, a company that uses VR simulations to provide hands-on training in HVAC, plumbing, electrical, and solar energy. The company’s model reduces physical barriers to training and makes it easier for workers in rural areas to obtain government-recognized certifications in in-demand fields. Companies that use the platform report better results in recruiting, retaining, and providing personalized training to their workers.

A focus on sustainable skills in the age of automation

It’s clear that as automation advances, unique human skills will become even more valuable, and healthcare is one of the key industries where communication and empathy will be critical. New XR solutions in healthcare education and training are not only helping to train staff on procedural tasks, but also providing a virtual environment to practice and improve interactions between caregivers. Mass General Brigham, a teaching hospital in the Greater Boston area, has been using XR in its nursing education programs for several years and reports both improved student knowledge retention and cost reductions for the instructors, who can reduce equipment purchases and medical waste by providing skill-building scenarios to trainees via XR. Their virtual “code cart,” an online prototype of a portable storage cart used to deliver life-saving supplies in emergency situations, is available to the public online as part of their NextUp: XR initiative.

Solution providers are also using XR to address challenges in healthcare education. For example, JFFVentures portfolio company Embodied Labs offers VR simulations so healthcare workers can experience what it’s like to attend a doctor’s appointment as a visually impaired person or move into a community-based living arrangement as a person with symptoms of Parkinson’s disease. The company has even developed end-of-life simulations to help hospice caregivers empathize with the experiences of patients with terminal diagnoses. “I was skeptical at first,” one hospice worker told NPR. “But once I went through it, I realized what a viable method this could be, not only for teaching, but for helping people better understand the end of life.”

Adaptable learning within reach

It’s no secret that traditional, in-person education and training systems aren’t always accessible to learners and workers who face barriers to economic advancement – whether it’s a lack of transportation to work and school or a learning style that benefits from more flexibility or self-direction. While investing in XR technology may initially present a financial hurdle, the return can be significant when it provides opportunities for a wider range of learners and workers.

Three colleges in the Colorado Community College system took an innovative approach to solving this problem: In a partnership with Meta and my organization Jobs for the Future, they pooled their resources to develop AR training programs for their learners. The Meta Spark AR platform and curriculum enabled each student to have a personalized learning journey, culminating in individual capstone projects in which they applied AR in an industry of their choice. Each campus was able to recruit a specialized group of learners, including non-credit learners and English language learners, and provide relevant training to their students.

Like other innovative technologies like AI, XR has tremendous potential to help learners, workers, educators, and employers—and there’s a risk that some people and institutions will be left out of the conversation. That’s why policy-driven investments like the Immersive Technology for the American Workforce Act, introduced in 2023 by Representatives Lisa Blunt Rochester and Tim Walberg, are critical. No matter how big or small the company, it makes sense and is becoming increasingly urgent to explore and implement XR technology as soon as possible so that both workers and companies can benefit. By partnering with the workforce, employers can be at the forefront of moving XR beyond its gaming reputation and into the workforce of the future.