Facebook has announced that they will be adding 1000 new jobs to their Irish operations. The company’s three staff locations in Ireland include Cork, Dublin and Meath, where its data lab is located. Their new campus in Ballsbridge, Dublin, is capable of hosting 7000 workers, according to Garreth Lambe, Facebook Ireland’s head of office. They currently accommodate 4000 employees.
Chief operating officer Sheryl Sandberg has said that Facebook aims to have 5000 employees by the end of the year. This ties in with Facebook opening a new facility in Dublin’s East Wall, which employs hundreds of contractors for the company.
Facebook first announced the setting up of their international headquarters in Ireland back in 2008. Since then, the platform has grown in popularity, not just in Ireland, but worldwide. The internet supergiants operate Instagram, Facebook, Oculus, and WhatsApp primarily in Ireland at the moment.
According to Ms Sandberg, the company aims to triple its investment in online safety. They will be dedicating €1m annually to making the internet safe for its users. The National Anti-Bullying Centre (ABC), and SpunOut.ie are two of its primary investments for the company. The money will go to research and training done by the ABC, for teachers and parents of secondary school students, in order to increase online safety for teens. This will be done in partnership with SpunOut.ie.
Ms Sandberg also said that the company’s aims and priorities moving forward include
“the safety and security of Facebook’s users, the commitment to cracking down on fake accounts and false news, strengthening defences against election interference and being even more transparent in how it operates and makes decisions, to make itself more publicly accountable”
in response to a lot of inquiries regarding the platform’s usage during election campaigns.
