NDM: Weekly News Article - W/C 5th December (26)

Facebook will hire extra 500 UK workers for new central London HQ

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/nov/21/facebook-hire-500-uk-workers-opens-london-hq-fitzrvovia

Summary

NDM is growing and does not seem to be stopping anytime soon, so along with it one of the biggest social media platforms is expanding too. Facebook are expanding their presence in London setting up shop in,Fitzrovia near to the West End. Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook's European Head announced the London expansion at CBI conference on Monday (28th Nov) approximately. The Mayor Of London is all for this expansion he says that it is a further vote of confidence in favour of London as a tech centre. According to Mr Khan the capital's vibrant tech scene at the minute is the envy of Europe. He went on to say "Facebook's continuing commitment is another sign that London is open to talent, innovation & entrepreneurship from all four corners of the globe.

   

Key Statistics

• Facebook will hire an extra 500 workers in the UK, increasing British workforce by half (50%)
• Facebook came to London in 2007, with a handful of people
• By the end of next year, Facebook London plan to employ 1,500 people 
• Google are expanding too, going ahead with plans to build offices in Kings Cross, creating nearly 3000 jobs
• Amazon is leaving UK base in Slough, after 16 years and moving to 15th floor offices outside of the city. 

My Opinion

I think that Facebook expanding operations within the city is a bold move because city operations can be expensive. However, they could have a greater chance of success in the city because most other companies are leaving the city due to the expense so they do not have as much competition. The city location could also make it super easy for them to fill the highly skilled jobs that Nicola talks of in the article, as London is the epi centre for jobs that people look to first.  Though, stating the jobs on offer as extremely high skilled may cause problems because while this may be true it could take a while to fill the positions and therefore longer for the base in London to get up and running.