Facebook’s New London Office Will Hire 800 New Staff

Facebook’s new London office will host the company’s largest development team outside the US, with more than 800 new jobs created at the facility, which opens today.

The hires will bring the total number of Facebook staff in the UK to 2,300 by the end of 2018, with engineers working on products such as Workplace, Oculus, camera tools, augmented reality and developer tools.

The new office is located on Rathbone Place, near London’s Oxford Street, and a short distance from previous homes in Euston and Covent Garden. The move was motivated by a desire to bring development, technology, sales and marketing teams under a single roof.

Facebook UK office

“Today’s announcements show that Facebook is more committed than ever to the UK and in supporting the growth of the country’s innovative start-ups,” said Nicola Mendelsohn, Facebook’s European head.

The UK’s flourishing entrepreneurial ecosystem and international reputation for engineering excellence makes it one of the best places in the world to build a tech company. And we’ve built our company here – this country has been a huge part of Facebook’s story over the past decade, and I look forward to continuing our work to achieve our mission of bringing the world closer together.”

Facebook has had a presence in the capital since 2007 and opened its first engineering office in 2012. The location was chosen because of local talent as well as the fact that London had the world’s second largest concentration of third party developers.

The new Rathbone Place office will also house Facebook’s LDN_LAB incubator for startups working on community technology. Successful applicants will join LDN_LAB for three months and will benefit from Facebook resources and expertise.

“It is great to see a world-leading company like Facebook continuing to invest in London’s renowned tech ecosystem, despite the uncertainties surrounding Brexit,” said Julian David, CEO, techUK. “Facebook has chosen to be amongst like-minded businesses and the brightest minds in placing its very first in-house start-up incubator, LDN_LAB, in the UK.

“Large businesses are key to supporting innovation and we are excited to see what becomes of the start-ups that can grow and scale as a result of this endeavour. The message is clear: London is open, and tech is the flag bearer.”

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