Facebook creates 1,000 new jobs in London as it targets growth
Facebook will create 1,000 new jobs in London by the end of the year.
Over half of the new jobs will be in technology, including software engineering and data science, as well as development of its Workplace and Whatsapp platforms.
Other roles will be in the “community integrity” team, which aims to detect and remove harmful content.
The capital is already Facebook’s engineering centre outside of the US. The new roles will take the number of Facebook employees in the UK to more than 4,000.
Facebook’s vice president for EMEA Nicola Mendelsohn said that London’s appeal was undimmed but the company wanted certainty about Brexit.
“The Johnson government has been very clear about what that looks like, and so we will continue to invest here in London,” she said.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the growth was “great news”, and that he was committed to making London “one of the best places for technology companies to be based”.
The company will also be opening a new office in King’s Cross in 2021.
Facebook is trying to rebuild its credibility after the Cambridge Analytica scandal in 2018. The tech company was fined $5bn (£3.85bn) by the Federal Trade Commission last year.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum at Davos, Facebook’s chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg, said: “Our teams at Facebook are working around the clock to make progress on these challenges while also building great products”.
She added: “The thousand jobs we’re adding in the UK is going to help us accomplish even more and if we get all of this right the internet will continue to be a force for good.”
Sandberg also said: “Targeted advertising has democratised advertising, full stop, and making people able to grow.”
Facebook’s head of communications, Sir Nick Clegg, yesterday defended Facebook’s position to not fact-check political advertising.