Google to recruit thousands of Euro engineers

Google plans to increase its staff by a third, with most of these new employees being based in Europe.

Only 500 of the company’s 7,000 current engineers are in Europe, according to The Financial Times, a figure that Google hopes to increase significantly.

“Given the enormous computer science talent available in these countries there’s great potential to develop new products locally which can help improve people’s lives everywhere,” says Alan Eustace, senior vice president of technology and research at Google.

Google also announced today that it has appointed a vice president of engineering for Europe, Nelson Mattos. He will be based in Google’s Zurich office, and will be responsible for any global engineering projects undertaken in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

“I am excited about the opportunity of using the great brains we have here to develop product in the region not just for EMEA, but the rest of the world too.

“Our engineers in Europe, Russia and Israel are already working on a range of important different areas – from maps and search quality to advertising and mobile – and we’re looking forward to doing even more in the future,” said Mattos.

Currently Google has 12 research and development centers in Europe and employs a total of 2,500 people in EMEA.