Facebook began with 30 people in Ireland and this has mushroomed to more than 2,200 in Dublin, Meath and Cork.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said last night (2 November) that hundreds of new jobs are to be created at the social network’s operations in Ireland in 2018.
While the company wasn’t specific on numbers, it didn’t correct An Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, TD, speaking on RTÉ News about “several hundred” positions being created. Meanwhile, The Irish Times referred to sources who said that as many as 800 new positions will be created next year.
Facebook came to Dublin in 2009 and now employs 2,200 people across Ireland. In September, the company expanded to a second building to accommodate its growth. Last year, it opened an Oculus research office in Cork upon the acquisition of local start-up InfiniLED for an undisclosed sum.
Clonee data centre will be powered by 100pc renewable energy
In a post on Facebook last night, Zuckerberg also revealed that the social network’s €200m data centre in Clonee will break important new ground from a technological perspective.
“Ireland is an important part of our global community,” Zuckerberg wrote.
“Dublin is where our international HQ is located, and our Clonee data centre will be one of the most advanced in the world, and powered by 100pc renewable energy.”
According to a Facebook spokesperson, construction of two of the data centre buildings is complete and the third, to be powered by 100pc renewable energy, is well underway.
She explained that the Dublin office is the largest Facebook office outside of the company’s headquarters in California.
The Dublin site is also one of the most diverse Facebook offices globally, with more than 80 nationalities working in roles that include safety, marketing and sales, infrastructure engineering, legal, HR and many more.
“As the home of our international headquarters, Ireland is an important part of Facebook’s story and one of the most vibrant tech communities in the world,” said the head of Facebook in Ireland, Gareth Lambe, in a statement.
“We are delighted that our Irish operations will be growing in 2018 with hundreds more jobs across all our teams.
“We also recently announced that we are expanding the Clonee data centre, which will keep construction crews busy well into 2020, further demonstrating our long-term commitment to investment in Ireland.
