Facebook to establish international HQ in Dublin

03 Oct 2008 12:12

The social network is following in the footsteps of other tech companies by taking advantage of the Irish government's tax incentives

Facebook will establish its official international headquarters in the Irish capital of Dublin, the Irish Times reported on Thursday.

The announcement was made by Mary Coughlan, Ireland's minister for enterprise, trade and employment. The Irish Times hinted that the company is already recruiting to build up a local workforce.

The Dublin office will be the centre of Facebook's operations for Europe, the Middle East and Africa, from ad sales to technical support.

"After exploring various locations throughout the region, we decided Ireland was the best place to establish our new headquarters," Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, said in a statement made to the newspaper.

"The talent pool in Dublin is world-class, and recruiting local talent will help us better understand the needs of local users and the regional dynamics that, in turn, can give us better insight into what features matter most," she added.

The Irish government has been friendly to technology companies, providing appealing tax incentives. Yahoo, Google and eBay all have offices in Dublin, and Dell has chosen another Irish city, Limerick, for its European headquarters.

Dublin is slightly more affordable than London. Consulting firm Mercer named London the world's third most-expensive city in this year's edition of its annual rankings; Dublin came 16th.

According to the Irish Times, Facebook now has 308,000 users in Ireland.

Story URL: http://news.zdnet.co.uk/itmanagement/0,1000000308,39497761,00.htm